The lyrics on ADTOE are much better than the last few albums, but they're still... not good.
It isn't necessarily that they're too obvious though. Look at Rush's "Middletown Dreams", it's one of my absolute favorite songs lyrics wise, but it's just as direct and obvious as anything DT writes. It's the power of how it's written and the imagery that does it for me. ADTOE's has its moments, but overall the lines aren't powerful enough, poetic enough, memorable enough, or thought provoking enough for me to consider it anything other than average from a lyrics perspective. It's like comparing a typical Hollywood action blockbuster to a more artistic film.
That said, this is nothing new. Good lyrical moments for me have been few and far between since Kevin Moore left (Myung songs, mostly), so unless Mike Mangini has an inner Neil Peart he can start channeling, it's probably best not to belabor the point and just be glad they've at least limited the number of cringeworthy moments.