The Great Collection Rediscovery

Album: Origin of Extinction

Old Rating: 4.5/5

Verdict: One of my most played thrash metal albums surely, especially from modern bands. The song F.O.A.D. is about as immature as it always was (though is quite the anthem), but overall it's a very fun thrash record with a classic heavy metal edge. 

New Rating: 5/5

Album: Alternative 4

Old Rating: 4/5

Verdict: This one's pretty good rock with some heavier moments still hinting at their roots. Probably one of the better Anathema albums for me. I'm liking this band more the second time around but they don't look to ever be the running for being a favourite.

Also, this marks 300 albums since this project started!

New Rating: No Change.

Album: Гой, Роде, гой! (Goi, Rode, Goi!)

Old Rating: 5/5

Verdict: Probably my favourite of the Arkona albums, although the one prior to this is also a contender (as may be the one before that). This is a real beefy folk metal album, running almost 80 minutes and for me is a genre classic. 

New Rating: No Change. 

Album: My Arms, Your Hearse

Old Rating: 4/5

Verdict: Historically an Opeth album I've not counted among their best, this revisit opened it up a lot more for me. Though I have to say that I still don't get the fixation a lot of fans seem to have on Demon of the Fall. It has never struck me as being among Opeth's best tracks, let alone the best. 

New Rating: 4.5/5

Albums: Deliverance & Damnation

Old Ratings: Both 4.5/5

Verdict: I thought it made sense to write about these two together. Deliverance is for me easily Opeth's heaviest work and Damnation is still surprisingly easily their lightest despite the permeant change to a prog rock direction from Heritage onward. I really like both of these albums and I think that Deliverance especially is one that's aged really well. There is great stuff on both though and they really do work well as contrasting releases. 

New Ratings: No Change to either. 

Album: Watershed

Old Rating: 4.5/5

Verdict: Who would have thought back in 2008 that this would be the last album of the classic Opeth sound? Not me, that's for sure. I guess in hindsight the signs were there, with only three of its seven songs using growls, but always thought that was balanced out by the simple existence of Heir Apparent, which is easily more death metal than anything on Ghost Reveries. 

I guess post-Watershed Opeth lost some fans. I wasn't amongst them, but I do miss the classic sound sometimes. I actually found Watershed on this re-listen to be even better than I remembered it and I'm actually itching to play it again already. 

New Rating: 5/5