The Finsterforst paradox: a band famous for sonic overweight delivering, per Blabbermouth (8.5/10), « the strongest album in the band’s 22-year career ». The Black Forest veterans land 78/100 across three reviews, carried by a closer, « Leere », a « 24-minute exercise in brooding prog metal » that, Blabbermouth again, outstrips everything epic the band has attempted before.
On one point, total unanimity: Oliver Berlin’s vocals. « A performance that is never less than achingly human and bathed in melancholy » (Blabbermouth); « Berlin’s vocals give me goosebumps each playthrough » (Angry Metal Guy, 3.5/5). AMG also praises « dynamic songwriting » and a « masterful command of tension », improved production included.
The divergence lands, ironically, on length — again. AMG rules that the two covers add fourteen minutes that feed the band’s « reputation for bloat »; The Progressive Subway (7/10) finds the album « business as usual », one that « feels about eighty minutes long when it’s actually a comparatively svelte sixty-four ». The public, reserved at 68/100, sides with the sceptics. The critics have ruled: the fat is still there, but the muscle has never been this defined.