The album really gets going from Cosmos on for me. My favorite is the trilogy of G, (O)rdinary, and (D)eath.
100% with you. The first few songs are ok, but it really gets good on the back half of the album. I don’t think the friends of mine who are trashing the album ever got to Cosmic to be honest. I’ve been lurking on Reddit and Facebook and this release is really dividing the fan base to the extreme. Seems to be heralded as the second coming, or the worst thing they’ve ever released
I’m taking that as a good sign.
On my whole discography run through and I really do like Sounding the Seventh Trumpet as a debut. It will definitely beat Hail in my rankings, if nothing else. The rest of the catalogue is just stronger, but it is a good foreshadowing of what is to come. Onto Waking the Fallen next
I love the damn riffs on this album.