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I have given this album 2 stars in 2006, called it an overblown epic bordering on the ridiculous, almost as a parody on prog. I should have given this album more time. While still pretentious and having some distracting soundclips, It is musically adventurous and interesting, and I should at least admit that the lyrics are philosophical. The band really tried something different than what they were used to doing in the past here.

Sound Clips of a woman and a guy emotionless talking overwhelm the first five minutes of the album, with its only music being a metal tune with someone talking about human population numbers across time. A shame, it was instrumentally interesting. Luckily, "Imago" is the first good song in the album. An unusual blend of folk and world music. Of course, it might sound too serious for its own good, but you can't deny the wonderfully mysterious acoustic opening. You also can't deny the brilliant symphonic piano piece "Plivius" that comes next. Unfortunately, after a decent track, you have a duet of acoustic guitars and deep male chanting that is not too exciting and unfortunately is followed by some cheesy dialogue with terrible voice acting about a guy who wants to get his girl (or prostitute) to 'pleasure' him while driving. This is followed by a long bluesy/broadway-ish and repetitive track that is awfully out of place. This might sound like it would be a track I would love to skip, but it is actually a highlight of the album. The vocal performance is very good, the bass is groovy, the guitar performance is notable, the light orchestra and harmony vocals are effective, and I love how the track builds up near the end. Cheesy track for sure, which even includes moaning sound clips, but it is just very well arranged.

After this serious change of style in the album, it starts going back into a sound that fits the concept better with Vocari Dei , which is the most emotional and best moment in the album, not to mention the only part where the sound clips actually augment the impact of the music rather than become a distraction. Very fragile, layered music while individuals from different parts of the world send various types of messages to God. The instrumentation never fails to move me.

Diffidentia surprises you with a mix of slow-tempo metal, symphonic rock, and some rap. Strange song indeed. Nihiri Morari is a song that takes the music and ideas of the beginning of the album and improves on them. Pretty energetic and enjoyable, despite the somewhat distracting voices. The heaviness continues until "Omni", which is a short mellow tune which utilizes only sound vocals and the church organ as music. After a vocal-oriented song, Marticus/Nauticus starts with vocals and a marching rhythm and is interrupted by a great acoustic guitar showcase which you notice is dirently related to "Imago." The rest of the song is an "Imago" reprise. Its ending with the tribal drumming is enjoyable, but as an ending, it is anti-climatic since the last song is just silence.

I guess give it a chance if you want to hear something new, but this album is pretty flawed in my opinion and takes a while to get used to.

Highlights: Imago, Dea Pecuniae, Vocarei Dei, Omni, Iter Impius, Martius/Nauticus II

Let Downs: Anemae Partus I/II, Deus Nova, Nauticus,

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