It’s the one track on the album that hasn’t connected with me yet. I certainly don’t dislike it, it feels like it just meanders a bit for me.
I also have a little bit of issue with it sounding like a bit of a mash-up of the other songs on the album. While I understand there is heaps going on compositionally, I’m not really instrument-minded, so that stuff goes over my head a bit, and I’m left more with simply how things sound.
This is the one track that when people say things like “the album all sounds the same”, likely strikes me as doing so. I think the album has terrific variety, and while the songs certainly sound like they are from the same album in feel, they have significant variety and are strong tracks in their own right.
Awaken the master however, can at times for me feel similar to the title track, but just not done as well. Like when the chorus starts with “spinning through time..”, you could almost replace it with “See a view from the top of the world…” and it feels like it fits almost too easily. Or the solo at the start that goes into the soaring guitar - it almost goes into the same riff as “The Alien”, and just changes tack slightly. It almost would be better to repeat the same riff, so there’s a bit of a recurring motif and some continuity. So I can see the opinion of this one sounding a bit “samey”.
In any case, I hope it clicks more but I’m also not worried, as everything else on the album is right up my alley, with Sleeping Giant and Answering the Call making a big play for my favourite track along with Transcending time in a 3-way tie 👊