Five years after Deceiver, America’s epic doom standard-bearers return self-titled on Nuclear Blast, and the press shows up: 79/100 on Album of the Year (5 reviews), public at 75. Blabbermouth leads at 8.5/10, Metal Hammer, Kerrang! and Distorted Sound line up 8s, and even the floor — Angry Metal Guy at 3.5/5 — still reads like a compliment.
What everyone agrees on: the recalibration. Shorter, heavier songs, a partial return to Desolation — and above all a consistency with no air pocket: AMG notes the album « glides right between the Very Good and the Great with no song feeling like a letdown ». Kerrang! (4/5) hails « an honourably cultured continuation » that never feels « like any kind of cheap imitation » — « sweet meat for the indoctrinated ». The same titles circulate everywhere: « Invocation of the Dreamer », « Beneath the Scythe », « Grief’s Reverie », « Benediction Tones ».
What divides: ambition, or the lack of it. Kerrang! concedes an « unevolved », heavily referenced approach; AMG reminds us it « doesn’t bring the band back to the glory days of Hunted« . In other words: not the masterpiece, but the sturdy record needed to restart the machine. 8/10 on the meter, and zero reason to sulk.