Great point! Personally, I think the only "dud" of an album in their catalog is "Falling into Infinty", and even that one if you get the demo version is actually a very good disc; it got reworked so badly by the record company that the finished version is a shell of its original self.
There have definitely been tracks over the last few Portnoy discs that left me flat, but none of the albums struck me as an actual disappointment. There were always enough good songs to weigh the album favorably. "Dark Eternal Night" is the only true DOG song for me, and even that one featured a killer instrumental section at the back half that helped salvage it. The lyrics on "Nightmare to Remember" and "Tuscany" both are wretched, but thankfully I have never been much of a lyrics kind of person, so again..... No harm done.
I thought the last album was excellent through and through, but very SAFE. There wasn't anything we hadn't heard before, but it was all done at such a high level that it made up for the lack of "creativity". My expectations are through the roof for this one, and I expect them to come out firing on all cylinders. I had half-way been expecting another double disc this go-around, as I had a feeling they would have a lot of fresh ammunition and creativity to pull from.
Regardless, September 24 cannot come soon enough.