[uncertaindrumer]

I've only listened to it twice, and a shortage of listenings can be good or bad, but my initial impressions are of dissapointment.

Apparently, for all their talk of not wanting to be constrained by Wind Up, AB still lacks the courage to really try anything new. Maybe they just don't have the talent, but that seems absurd to me. Sure, their rythym section is mediocre at best, but Tremo and Myles are superhero talents, and they are capable of more than this.

Myles' voice is, as usual, impeccable, and a joy to listen to. Tremo's riffs are great, and his solos are always worth it. But as I listened to this album I couldn't exorcise the sneaking suspicion that I have heard it all before. Everything is well done, it has just all been done before--by themselves at times, for that matter. I like the idea of a heavier album, but they seemed to have contented themselves with being heavy and forgotten that that isn't enough.

And when reading the lyrics you can tell from a mile away which ones have Myles' influence and which ones are mostly Mark. I mean, wow, Myles is good at writing lyrics and Mark just sucks, plain and simple. Props to them for some good lyrics and slops for some horrid cliche-ridden nonsense as well.

Also, Blackbird is a seriously self-indulgent song that doesn't back up its 8 minutes of length with enough substance. Make that song half the length and it works. As it is, it simply gets repetative.

Ties That Bind is a great song to start off with and gave me high hopes but it never really goes beyond that. Some of the tracks are just ignorable.

I liked listening to it, and I definitely like it more as an album than ODR (which had four worthwhile songs) but for never dipping to ODR's lows (no I will NOT open my eyes...) it also never really achieved its highs. There is nothing on here that compares particularly favorably to Metalingus or One Day Remains (the latter's pitiful lyrics notwithstanding). There is also nothing that rakes your ear drums with pain the way a few songs did on ODR.

If this had been just another album by just another band, I would have been taken aback and pleasantly surprised. As it is I guess I was just hoping for more from AB, and for how long it took them to make this album, I didn't get it.