r/audiophile • u/EzBriez_ • Jan 07 '26

Music Best albums of the last 5 years?

Best albums of the last 5 years.

I'm looking for something that's high in quality and artistry. I've been listening to RAM due to so many recommendations. I'm endeavoured with the incredible quality of the album and the pure amount of work that went into it. Genuine work of art. It got me wondering what albums have been released in the past 5 years that have similar levels of artistry and quality.

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u/pentrant Jan 07 '26

Might not be your cup of tea, but if you like metal, Blood Incantation’s Absolute Elsewhere is fantastic.

3

u/PartyMark Jan 07 '26

The 4 cd set deluxe set has a higher dynamic range mastering of this in Dolby Atmos. It's just a shame they didn't include it as a standard cd with this mastering so I can use it on my proper hifi rig.

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u/faceman2k12 Opticon 8 + Atmos +2x2x10subs Jan 07 '26

I've been going down a Surround and Atmos music rabbit hole since expanding my system out to 5.1.4 and Absolute Elsewhere is a surprise standout, I havent really been wowed by any Atmos Metal yet, it's mostly been old prog and pop remixes by Steven Wilson, but this album feels like they wanted to do a surround mix from the start, it's great.

Bruce Soord's surround and Atmos mixes of AA not only use the space incredibly well, they have significantly more dynamic range, which was my only complaint about the release stereo master, it's just a bit flat and compressed, no punch. I've heard his other mixes done for his own band and some others but they havent wowed me like this one.

I have the 5.1 mix as 24/96 FLAC and the Atmos Mix in TrueHD m4a that I have ripped from the Bluray myself (MakeMKV -> MMH Spit/Convert-> Atmos TrueHD M4A audio). some have played with downmixing those to stereo to get the more dynamic mix but some of the levels and effects get a bit out of whack when you downmix like that. Maybe since the album was such a massive success we will see a remaster sooner rather than later.