I am one of the most vocal fans of Mangini here, but I can see how some could find his playing soulless because he is always plays on the beat. He doesn't play behind the beat, which is why his drumming in ballad type songs like AFTR is not his strong suit.
The criticism of MM's drumming which I can not get, though, is when people say that Mangini makes a simple 4/4 beat sound more complex than it is. Really? I dare anybody to point me any section where MM actually makes a 4/4 not sound like 4/4. If anything, he makes complex patterns sound simple, which is why many do not "hear" the polyrhythms in OTBOA, Enigma Machine, and IT. The funny thing is that people who make this criticism are all praises for pieces like TDOE which is the textbook definition of complex drumming for complexity's sake.