I'm split on this album. On the one hand it's one of the most technically impressive works I've ever listened to; on the other it's just kinda ok, pretty standard rock. Some of the tracks are incredibly impressive in their composition (Opus Insert, Magnum Opus) while others have absolutely nothing going for them (What's on My Mind). I think the best way to frame it is this: whenever the band is going through an instrumental section and just letting the music do the talking, it's amazing and genuinely some of the best music I've heard, but falls short whenever it has to return to it's verse-chorus structure that seems to hold it back. Thankfully, almost every song has multiple points of pure instrumental that are great and enjoyable. The instrumentation, composition, and timbre of everything on the album work so well together to create a unique sound that really encapsulates the hard rock/prog rock combo the band is sporting here. The combination of electrical elements with acoustic instruments (i.e. guitar, and things like violin) is done in a way where they sound great together and play off of each other really nicely. Unfortunately, the larger album and some of the songs aren't quite the sum of their parts; while they may have very well done elements to them, quite a few of them don't feel like they're as good as they could be. Like they're just teetering on the edge of becoming really great but fail to get that far. It was tough to score this one and it's really on the line between 4 and 5, but I have to put it this high purely just for how technically and musically impressive it can be at times.
Rating: 5/6
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