Something tells me you'll quite enjoy this album, Ev
Well it certainly was alright and definitely the best since Systematic Chaos. I need to listen more to see where it ends on my scale. I felt there were too many songs, and also the album suffered from not inviting guest vocalists. For all the praise for James, he did a great job indeed, but no way he was diverse enough to represent seven characters and the narrator. I wouldn't have been able to guess who sings what without a lyric sheet. He did a great job with his vocals as Nafaryus and also with his clean vocals as Faythe in A New Beginning.
The highlights for me are Lord Nafaryus (I knew this track will kick ass!), Three Days, Ravenskill and Moment of Betrayal. The latter works much better in context of the album, loved it when it popped up.
What really got me excited for this album is the supposed number of amazing ballads, and since I love ballads I thought this would be awesome. Well, guess what, aside from Ravenskill I don't remember any melodies from any ballad. I surely need to do a few more listens, but so far this album is very weak in good ballad department.