I'm on the second listen now, so I'll share some brief excerpts of the writeups (which will be much longer and less cryptic when finished). But the first impressions were mostly good. I do want to stress that there isn't one bad album in the lot - I don't dislike any of them, but figuring out which will get past is going to be agonizing. And yes, these are mixed up and don't match the submission list
1. "Power metal needs to flirt with prog metal to remain fresh. This does exactly that."
2. "This is wild, and more importantly, fresh to my ears. I fully expected to hate it, but ended up falling in love with it."
3. "It's dripping with musical talent, but I got exhausted towards the end. There's just too much going on sometimes, as if the songs rarely know where they're going."
4. "The heavy riff moments remind me a lot of Tool, and I like this, but I don't like Tool. I'm confused."
5. "I feel grimy listening to parts of this, like acid trip grimy, where you know you're clean, but still feel kind of... like you want to scrub something away that isn't there, it soaks into you."
6. "Simply solid prog metal that doesn't bash you over the head letting you know they're good at their instrument or genre. It was actually fun and interesting."
7. "The guy's voice is still not my favorite - that sound isn't something I'm crazy about."
8. "It's pretty good at one kind of prog metal style, but it never seems to stray far away from that."
9. "I played this so loudly I was afraid the neighbors would call the cops or come banging on my door, and it still wasn't as loud as I wanted. This kicks serious ass."
10. "There's a cool, upbeat atmosphere throughout this album and I enjoyed that because it's a break from the typically gloomy atmosphere that a lot of prog seems to have."
11. "It was a real treat to experience this mostly relaxing work of art. I love every single thing about this."
12. "Spellbound from start to finish - I was actually happier after listening to this magical album. The Forum Fogeys know some damn good music."
13. "I was really hoping to get something completely different when I started the roulette, and this fits the bill. Brilliant pick out of left field."
14. "Little if any filler. Always end your album with a strong song - I wanted to replay this as soon as it ended."