Enslaved's Mið came out on top this week with a B-Side Breakdown of 80 (B-), from 5 critics. It's their best-reviewed album here since RIITIIR (2012). Queens of the Stone Age's Perfecth drew the most reviews of the week (11), and they ran from 60 at Rolling Stone to 100 at Record Collector. Plus 10 new albums with early scores, and the full ranking.

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The week in numbers

• 15 new albums tracked, 5 with a full Breakdown
• 80, the top score: Enslaved, Mið
• 11 critics on Queens of the Stone Age, Perfecth, the most of any new album
• 40 points between the highest and lowest review of Queens of the Stone Age, Perfecth

The ranking

1. Enslaved, Mið

Enslaved's best-reviewed album here since RIITIIR (2012). 4 of 5 critics liked it, with Angry Metal Guy the lone holdout at 60.

80 (B-) · 5 critics · 80% approval · Every review → · Amazon

2. Jeremiah Chiu, Edge Conditions

2 of 4 critics liked it.

79 (C+) · 4 critics · 50% approval · Every review → · Amazon

3. Queens of the Stone Age, Perfecth

Queens of the Stone Age's best-reviewed album here since …Like Clockwork (2013). Scores ran from 60 (Rolling Stone) to 100 (Record Collector).

78 (C+) · 11 critics · 73% approval · Every review → · Amazon

4. DIIV, ZIRP!: 75 (C) · 5 critics · 60% approval. 3 of 5 critics liked it.

5. Nickelback, Everything Under the Sun: 73 (C) · 3 critics · 67% approval. The best-reviewed album of Nickelback's career on B-Side Breakdowns, ahead of Get Rollin’ (66).

Where the critics split

Record Collector gave Perfecth 100. Rolling Stone gave it 60. The other 9 critics landed between 60 and 90, which is how a record ends up at 78 with 73% of critics liking it. See every review side by side →

Early reads

New albums with a review or two so far. They join the ranking at 3 reviews, and the early scores can swing a lot until then.

• Chloe Qisha, Fantasize: 70 (C-) from 2 reviews so far
• Big Red, Big Sur: 80 (B-) from 2 reviews so far
• Cirith Ungol, All the Shadows: 70 (C-) from 2 reviews so far
• Disgusting Sisters, Skin & Blisters: 70 (C-) from 1 review so far
• Heathers, Awesome: 71 (C-) from 1 review so far
• Miguel Atwood‐Ferguson, Ananta: Spirit Of Coltrane: 70 (C-) from 1 review so far
• Grave Monolith, Grave Monolith: 70 (C-) from 1 review so far
• Clinic, Wild In The Streets: 90 (A-) from 1 review so far
• Ex:Re, Save As: 80 (B-) from 1 review so far
• Cryptorium, Through the Bowels of Ceaseless Dissonance: 60 (D-) from 1 review so far

Out this week

We start collecting reviews the evening before each release. These are the ones we’re watching:

• Lali Espósito, Dance or Die
• Steven Wilson, Requiem for a Village
• Prong, Prong
• Dove Cameron, Final Girl
• Merzbow, Fuego Eterno
• Malignant Spirit, A Serpent to Devour, a Servant to Abhor
• daine, In Endless Awe & Agony
• La Roux, Old Flames

Every score and every review behind it, for every album we track, is on B-Side Breakdowns.