As a breakoff of the thread about DT changing musical directions, I thought it'd be neat to know where everyone stands regarding if you thought the self-titled broke any new ground for them, musically, because it seems like one of the more polarized aspects of the album.
Personally, I thought it absolutely did! Some of the song structuring is different from the way they've done it before, particularly in False Awakening Suite, The Bigger Picture, Surrender to Reason, and Illumination Theory. Another thing to mention is some of the actual melodic/harmonic ideas. They're very DT-like and probably the thing their fans know them for, and yet the way they're represented here are unique to this album. I love how in-your-face the album is, I think it actually adds to the softer songs. I feel like parts that mean to kick your ass, ie. Enigma Machine, Behind the Veil, Illumination Theory, do it like they're supposed to, even if the album is pretty compressed dynamically. They also showed quite a bit of individual restraint at many parts. Best examples are how much Jordan actually takes a relaxed, background role, in The Looking Glass, The Bigger Picture, especially. JP also noted that he was influenced by some more modern prog metal tendencies, particularly Periphery, and I hear that as well.