I hate the fans that assume "possession" over a band's sound. The fans don't have a say in how something should sound, they should be grateful to get any new music at all to listen to. If they don't like it, yeah, sure, you can criticize it. But the "you sounded like this before, you can't release an album that sounds like that now, can you?!" argument is never valid. It's just moronic. The fans don't own the band. When the fan base gets to dictate what the band's sound is going to be, well - that's the definition of a sell-out.
Also, if you liked Orchid, Still Life, Deliverance, Watershed - you can still listen to them! What's to whine about?! They haven't become any worse because you didn't like the latest record, right? *sigh*