Sorry, but I'm a "hater".
I mean, I really like the album, but it's my 2nd least favorite and has some of the only DT songs I genuinely dislike/am completely indifferent to.
- In the Presence of Enemies (as a whole) is great, but has some of the only instrumental segments I feel the need to skip most of the time. The guys really went off in this song and these parts barely feel connected to the main song at all. They actually break the song into separate mini-songs, and along with the cringeworthy-to-funny (as in, I'm laughing at/with Petrucci for writing it), it makes the song really hard to follow sometimes. Other times I am in the right mood though.
- Forsaken is a really fun song but it's a pop song in the cover of a Metal song with (again) nearly-Anime lyrics. It reminds me of James' Impermanent Resonance or BMUBMD. I love all of the songs and the album mentioned in this bullet, but you have to be in the right mood for it and it's quite unique for DT to write this kind of songs (Wither and I Walk Beside You belong to different genres IMO).
- Constant Motion is bad. One song I really dislike. Bad lyrics (especially since the subject could provide so much better lyrics, and the current ones always sound to me like "I AM MIKE PORTNOY AND I AM HYPERACTIVE IN THE NIGHT YO"), annoying melodies and music, a ridiculously dull and boring instrumental segment for a 7 minute song, and it's just...I don't know, it's bad. The guys played it in my first show of them in 2009, and while the rest of the show was quite awesome, when this song came up I literally just stood there, waiting for it to end. I will listen to it like once every 1 or 2 years like I would listen to some pop songs I barely like on the same ratio (or while listening to the entire album), but I really don't come back to this song regularly.
- The Dark Eternal Night is mediocre. It's not like I can't stand it, but it barely has any appeal to me. Again, it has a horrible instrumental section, probably my least favorite out of DT's discography, and the harsh vocal from both Mike/JP (depending on the live show) and sometimes James are really unnecessary and embarrassing. Sounds like your grandpa trying to sing harsh metal vocals. The one redeeming value I have for this song is when James pulls an awesome high note in live shows (yay Luna Park, boo Chaos in Motion!)
- I hate Repentance. I really just plain hate it. After the second time I fell asleep listening to it I simply gave up and never listened to it again. This song actually annoys me to the point where I don't feel like going through why at the moment because it's gonna be twice as long as this post so far :3
- Prophets of War - me likey. Could apprecaite Winter Rose-esque backing vocals instead of the mockery falsetto of Mike and John which completely butchers the tone of the song to me, but the rest of it is awesome. Too bad they never play it live. Maybe it would get the triggered vocals treatment from James now.
- The Ministry of Lost Souls - I like this song, it has a lot more going for it compared to Forsaken and the quiet parts of In the Presence of Enemies. But then again, you guessed it - an overly stretched out "wankery" instrumental section and Anime lyrics ruin the gag. I do admit that the climax part where James sings "I wanted to deserve a place..." is really heartfelt and almost makes me forget that the song is about a weird aftertlife bedtime story every time. This could rival The Spirit Carries On with better lyrics and a more concise instrumental section, in my opinion.
I'm really sorry if I offend anyone with my opinion, though that's really how I feel about this album - it's about a 6 in my book, which is really low for how I score DT's albums. The parts I didn't mention in the songs, like the band's general musicianship, James' singing for the most part, and the riffs during the main leads are off the charts. There's too many wrongs in this album for me to fully appreciate it, though