Umm how about we all agree that saying "This album sucks ass" should be translated as "I think this album sucks ass"?
That said, I listened to the album, and I think all the people saying it sucks are "true metal warriors" and prog groupies. Seriously, saying an album sucks because it's simple is like saying "I don't like the key they used." If you said "I don't like how they used a simpler song structure," that might be different, but stop being fucking Dream Theater for a few minutes, or at least enough to actually listen to one of the songs instead of writing down how many different riffs you heard. The album was fine - if you listen to it as a whole, then you don't notice something stupid like the number of riffs.
As for the true metal warriors (namely the guy who actually used the fucking term)... you honestly think Evergrey spent some 10 years or so fighting a fucking battle to play the music they wanted so that they could try to make money off it? Don't you realize how hard it is to get a band going in the first place? And don't you realize that even platinum-selling artists can (and often will) end up in debt, or broke? Or did you not fucking think about that? And so, you really think Evergrey, who had to fight like hell to get to this point, would suddenly abandon the passion that brought them this far?
That said, the album does sound a bit more accessible... I think that's just the direction they wanted to go in. The songs have the same passion they always did. I don't love the sound of the riffs, so this isn't my favorite Evergrey album...but I only listened once. I expect it to grow on me.