Don’t think either of them would’ve fit well in another category. Both were more prog than death but both were on the extreme side of prog so don’t really fit elsewhere

Ikr. And in terms of absolute numbers, we can probably guess the winner too. Not that I'm personally in one camp or another. It is what it is, I guess, those are really the best this year had to offer

Madhatter I was just about to say the same thing

I'm probably not the first to mention this, but putting Kinship and Absolute Elsewhere in the same category is just brutal, ngl

They are masters of texture. Feels Like You was a banger too. I just think this has nudged it a bit. They're both near 10/10 records for me though. Same with Sway honestly.

Hmm, I'll give it another shot and see if my opinion has changed. Wasn't bad by any means, just not up to the standards of their previous releases imo.

Maybe recency bias, but I'm having a hard time thinking of another Shoegaze album that I would rate higher than it. Collect Sadness, Everyday Is The Same, Walk Through Space are all 11/10 tracks.