Riiiiight, here goes. I'm putting this down as the most confusing release of 2007. One one level its very disappointing, yet its still a very enjoyable album. I like all the songs (a few bits and pieces aside) but I just wanted more from them. There aren't enough fast songs - parts of Silence of the Darkness and the title track are the only real speedy breaks. Its pretty obvious that its Khan who doesn't like playing fast anymore, since even on these two faster songs, the slow bits are when the verses are being sung.
Then, on the other hand, there's only one ballad, which is strange for Kamelot. And the lyrics and vocal performance on the song are a bit confusing too. "Sing me the anthem of life." Uh, ok?
Some of the songs are also frustrating as they maybe could have been better than how they turned out. Love You to Death has a really cool opening and the chorus and guitar solo are great, but the verses are pretty substandard and the female vocal performance just seems a bit unnecessary. Similarly, The Human Stain would be a lot better if it wasn't for the "duhn-duhn-duhn" guitar parts - the breakdown bit is really jarring, even if the piano playing over the top sort of saves it.
The same with Blucher - the repeating filtered vocal part keeps stopping the song in its tracks and it never really seems to get going.
But still, apart from all this, I do enjoy listening to the album. I just wish it had been a bit more power metal. As Bloodstone on metal-archives.com said (he posts here too, but I forget who he is), its basically a full album of songs in the style of The Haunting (Somewhere in Time), which I think is a dead-on assesment.