My soul's ablaze....

I thought so too at first. But just like Maiden's AMOLAD, the more I listened, the more I liked. Before I saw the Borgir concert I was really excited because this album, once you get into the concept and allow yourself to truly listen to the songs (without saying old borgir was amazing, etc) you can really enjoy it a lot more. Then after you see it live... well I just loved it even more. Songs like "The Serpentine Offering", "The Sacriligious Scorn" and "The Invaluable Darkness" are pretty amazing to me, albeit a bit predictable at points.

The only thing is they could have had a more creative sound, but the song structures were still good even if a little stale. If I could change one thing it would be I'd add more of Vortex's vocals. He does not sing nearly enough, well that's always been the case for Borgir but it was a slight improvement on this album, but still, MORE FUCKING VORTEX PLZKTHX.

Anyways, that's my opinion of this album. I really love it now.