The title track is a grower which to me is a good thing. It’s different from any other of their epics. Honestly, my favorite Mangini era album is ADTOE but the new one is easily my second fave musically. The production on AVFTTOTW is easily their best IMO.
Based off of The Alien, I don't see how that is possible, but there is always the chance the rest of the record sounds a bit different. Don't get me wrong, The Alien sounds good, and it seems likely that this will be the best sounding record of the Mangini era (not exactly a high bar to clear), but the odds of the record sounding as good or better than the first three records from the 90's seem slim to none, given what we have heard thus far.