I thought Paradise Lost was worth the wait, mostly. It's not my favorite Symphony X album, but overall I enjoyed it. The Walls of Babylon and Revelation are two of the best Symphony X songs ever. I can see how it wasn't some people's cup of tea though.
But yeah, I would hope it doesn't take as long as PL - and there's no reason to think it would. But hey, if it does it does. As I said in another thread, I'd rather see Theocracy take a long time to release their next album then to rush it and have it not be all that it could have been.
Well, as long as it doesn't turn out to be anything on the scale of Wintersun's "Time", at least. (Coming Fall 2075! Maybe!)