I was mostly brainstorming in that post, but I have interest in these two particular tracks because of the storyline connection. It could just be as subtle as "Peacefully, she slipped away" vs. "Evangeline, I swore to you"
I just listened to both tracks a lot, writing down notes/chords, with my guitar in hand to follow the melodies, and I think I came up with some stuff:
I can't understand how I've missed it for over 2 weeks, but both songs endings' are basically the same: they have a similar sound, and they both end with the chords Bb - Am - D. Plus, the last three syllables sung by Arhys are C-D-D ("
til-it's-won" and "
sa-cri-fice"). So I may add it to the list, as 'Better Life motif' or something. (the chord progressions in the verses are based around I-VI, so there are also some similarities there).
Furthermore, towards the ending, I think "
A Better Life" references a bit of "
Heaven's Cove". At 4:13 in "
A Better Life" you can hear the strings play A-B-C#-E, and then D-E-F#-A at 4:19. Those sequences of notes, when transposed to B, appear at "
Heaven's Cove" (by guitar at 0:53, and soprano at 1:32). They also appear in "
Dystopian Overture" at 1:22. That 4-note sequence appears in all cases in the context of a minor chord, but the sequence (I-II-III#-V) makes the chord sound major . So I'd dare to say it's an intentional reference to the 'Heaven's Cove' theme.
Lastly, at 3:38 I think "
A Better Life" forshadows a short moment in "
Lord Nafaryus". You hear the guitar play Bb-G#-F-E right before Arhys sings "
Evangeline". Something really similar happens in "
Lord Nafaryus" at 0:24 and throughout. Although, in this case I'm not sure how much of a recurring motif this last one is, since I've heard this sort of sequence in many other songs (by the band, and by others).
The notes James sings at the moment in "
A Better Life" I think are the same as "
to meet the savior" in the other song, so there's also that.