Back to Times of Splendor is on my list of non-black metal, non-industrial/power electronics/death industrial/noise/neofolk/martial industrial/ambient/experimental albums (I require 3 favorite lists...), so, disclaimer.

For starters, it's not really melodeath (if we're defining melodeath in terms of the Gothenburg tradition). Back to Times of Splendor is melodic, yes, but at its core it's a very progressive take on death metal. They write technical riffs that don't come off as technical in the tech-death-masturbatory way, and incorporate them into well written, often long songs that have excellent keyboard touches (the bridge of "...And the Mirror Cracked" and the chorus of "Back to Times of Splendor" omg). That album is damn incredibly.

I love Gloria, however, too. A lot of people hated it when it came out. I was actually expecting something similar to earlier stuff and then it came in the mail and I was like wut. A lot of people were all THEY HAVE BETRAYED US, but I agree that it is quite good. It's very interesting, and well handled, and it's nice to see them do what they want, especially given that Splendor and The Porter really exemplified their earlier sound quite well. "Avalanche" is probably my favorite on that album. The way the tremolo picked riffs build on one-another. Oh my, so wonderful.