Over-all thoughts so far - my favorite album since Affinity, and possibly contender for 3rd fave of their whole discography (behind Visions and Affinity). Every track is full of great rhythms and melodies, some of which have been earworms for me. The only part I actively dislike is the "fast screaming through a filter" part of "Beneath The White Rainbow", which just sound like someone dying over a subway announcer speaker. Without a lyric booklet in hand, it's really hard to tell what they're saying in this part. It could be related to the theme of the song, but I haven't listened to it enough yet to parse that. Either way, it's the only part of the album that is grating to my ears. Everything else sounds great to me, even the Gentle Giant and Queen inspired sounds of "Elephants Never Forget", which is suitably epic, and the come-down-closer of "Eyes Of Ebony" is just beautiful. I love the last three tracks and their order as well. Great way to close the album with those three. I really like the first three tracks as well. The middle three are still trying to click with me, but I enjoy them for the most part so far.
If I had to grade this one, I'd say it's currently a 8 or 8.5 out of 10 for me, and it's slowly growing on me with each listen. Leading up to the release, I had been bingeing their previous albums and just really vibed with their first three, which are just SOOOO melodic it's insane. Then of course Affinity has been a favorite ever since it came out for me, and it was their first new album after I became a fan, so it holds a special place for me. My re-listens to Vector/Virus with fresh ears have really helped as I think I like them a bit more now than when they came out. They're not as high up as their first four for me, but they've improved over time.
-Marc.