i believe this is the best extreme in the game in just about every way, and i don't see it being dethroned any time soon.
starting with the song choice: i think this is the best song in any extreme demon by a pretty large margin. Koraii is extremely talented (albeit not a good person), and this is one of his best pieces by far. i don't think Congregation would have anywhere near the same impact if Presta chose any other song.
every single detail feels meticulously thought out, and there genuinely isn't anything i would change in the level (other than the line coloring in the cube portion of the drop).
the choice in color palette is (generally) phenomenal, and the way Presta weaves in slightly more and more variation and detail as the predrop develops is perfect. i know people think the predrop is boring, but i honestly couldn't disagree less (and it doesn't matter much to me how it plays in the first place). i think part of what makes the predrop work so well is how long it lasts!
although the drop is definitely weaker in terms of visuals (especially colors), the way in which the movements are choreographed is almost mesmerizing. despite being quite repetitive in nature, presta somehow manages to keep the drop fresh from start to finish.
i've heard some people criticize how similar the ending is to the predrop, but i feel that the level tends itself to the direction of the last cube quite well considering how much the sense of progression is reliant on the song developing over time.
what truly sets congregation apart from other levels for me, though, is how it manages to create such powerful environmental theming with so little.
as an aside, i think "environmental theming" is a good way to refer to level theming that you can place yourself in. it's extremely uncommon for a level to properly pull it off with an abstract setting -- the best example i can think of is "reviens" by vrymer -- but levels that pull it off are among my favorites.
extending the concept to other games, it's part of what makes undertale so appealing for me -- i absolutely love how easy it is to put yourself in the protag's shoes and imagine you are actually traversing these abstract environments. i've never seen another game pull it off so well, and it's why i don't think Deltarune will ever have the same effect on me as Undertale.
what Congregation, Reviens, and Undertale all have in common, and a HUGE part of what makes them work, is that they all force you to imagine yourself in a place that has no proper real-world parallels. whereas games like Omori and & levels like Night Rider and Black Flag fill in the blanks for you and don't leave much of the setting up to interpretation, the more abstract previously-mentioned media force you to construct these settings entirely differently -- much more is left up to your interpretation, as they're more focused on eliciting a specific mood or atmosphere than painting a clear picture.
some people may criticize Congregation for being too empty, but i feel like that's exactly what the level's environment is. i know that is am definitely assigning meaning to something that has none here, but when i try to construct the environment the level creates, i imagine an endless void, inhabited only by the pillars and platforms seen in the level. led by only the illuminated blue accent lights, you are the only living being in this world. one feeling in particular stands out to me in this cold, lifeless setting i've described: isolation.
it's important to note that due to the abstractness of the level, this interpretation is not laid out for you at all. i completely understand that this meaning i've assigned is personal only to me and is swayed by my experiences, but this post is meant to convey my opinions on the level, and i'm not going to change the way i see the level to write a "better review".
there are other levels that have made me feel certain emotions (SAVE AS comes to mind, obviously), but Congregation's usage of environmental theming (for me) to elicit those emotions is truly phenomenal work on Presta's part.
i'm aware that everything I've said here can be summed up by the phrase "it has atmosphere", but i feel like i'd be doing the level a disservice by chalking it up to that.
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