It is indeed!
Just finished my first listen and it might be indeed as good as The Scarecrow and The Mystery of Time if it grows on me a bit. So far I think it's better than The Wicked Symphony if only because it's got much more superior flow, but still not quite on the level of the former two.
The highlights for me are Seduction of Decay (Tobias did an amazing job writing melodies for Tate, great song overall), Ghostlights (well I was fawning over this song even before the album came out), Babylon Vampires (kickass all the way through), Lucifer (whoever said this was a piano ballad? I wish it went for at least three or four minutes more. Such potential in this song) and Unchain the Light (this song could use TAC-approved recipe with more Kiske included).
Honestly, this album seems great but it must be the first Avantasia album I'm not instantly praising the epic. I think I've got to digest this one, I didn't appreciate it much. Same goes for Master of the Pendulum.
The Haunting and the Catley track is about what I expected. One is quite good remake of Death is Just a Feeling (not Amadeus Awad album), and the second is a typical Catley sings Avantasia track. Mystery of a Blood Red Rose is in the same category I think.
The biggest disappoinment after the first listen is Draconian Love. I didn't like this track at all. I love Herbie's vocals - The Old Man and The Spirit is in my Top 10 albums of all time - but this track... it just wasn't up my alley at all. I hope it'll grow on me on the next listens, but after the first spin it's somewhere down there with, um... I don't even know what, Crestfallen and Blowing Out the Flame or something like that, those Avantasia tracks I have no desire to listen to.
So, well, this album could be as good as The Scarecrow and The Mystery of Time, and given my enormous love for those two, it's quite a high praise from me. I think it just needs a few more listens. I'm really glad I've bought this huge deluxe edition.