No 'new album thread' is complete until there's some discussion about how TMoLS feels "disconnected", right?..
Ok, I'll play..
Literally, the instrumental section feels so disconnected to the rest of the song, if you showed it to someone who hasn't heard the song, there's no way that person would've known it was actually a balladesque song in disguise.
I think that's kind of the whole point of doing it, don't you think?.. They're expert musicians, is not that they didn't know how to put that section in one song and randomly put it in there just for the sake of it.. As you mentioned, maybe they did it because there already was a long ballad in the album, and didn't wanted to do another one (even when they have very different structures and a
very different vibe as well)..
But, as I've said many times, having that type of element within a song where the instrumental section seems to come from nowhere or at least it's very unexpected (thus why it feels like is from another song, which logically speaking makes no sense) is something DT did in other songs too.. Beyond this Life has it, Endless Sacrifice has it and Sacrificed Sons has it.. And, IMO, these four songs
as a whole (and particularly the break-moments) are awesome just like they are, and mostly because they are like that..