Osdm is a very saturated genre at the moment and spectacular quality isnt always needed to become popular. 20 buck spin maybe is the best example as they have a cult following them.

Maybe blackgaze, post-black, hipster and stuff like that which was very popular then has lost either quality or interest or both. Raw black metal has become more popular, thats more of a trend than an increase in quality (imo).

Hey. I've been away from metal for 5-6 years now. What's the latest trend in black/death metal in the last 1-2 years?

That new Wormwood is really good, just finished it

You and the nazgul could settle your differences with a bit of skiing

Google says mt Ruapehu is the lonely mountain, that mountain is like right next to Mt doom.

The surrounding area of the Mountain you showed doesn't look as inhospitable as Mordor though, I don't think I'll be struck down by a Nazgûl on my travels there