Here's the thing. I don't hate these guys. In fact, these days there are few bands that I "hate." However, I do get irritated with some of them for perpetuating generic, simple metal music that is often done better by others who don't have the backing of a major label like Nuclear Blast.
Fleshgod Apocalypse has some interesting things going for it. I am a big fan of symphonic additions to my metal, and FGA definitely has that if nothing else. The problem here, at least in my mind, is that the rest of the group sounds completely replaceable. What makes a group like Dimmu Borgir or Septicflesh work for me is that their core band members (guitar, bass, vocals, drums) are all integral to the overall sound. You couldn't replace somone like Shagrath, and there is a reason why people are still raw over the loss of ICS Vortex.
But with FGA's more recent output, the standard band instrumentation is about as interesting as a brick wall. Guitars pretty much chug through palm mutes (though granted "The Fool" has some nice soloing) and the vocals are generally quite run of the mill. The only time I get into the vox is on the more operatic portions, which are quite solid. What's even more frustrating here is that the group has the ability to play better than they do. Their earlier albums were much more guitar-oriented and show plenty of prowess in technical ability. It just seems that becoming more of a "symphonic" band left them feeling that all of the attention should be rerouted in that direction.
And so while I was hopeful in hearing early tracks from this album in that the production was less dense, new ideas were being implemented on the so-called "Wagnerian" side of things, and compositions seemed to pop a bit more; I still consider this to be a prime example of why this site exists. There are dozens of other groups we have put in the spotlight here that simply do this stuff better than the ones that are getting more extensive attention. My hope is not to bring these major label acts down, but rather to challenge them to work harder while also increasing competition with the rise of similar underground acts. Cheers.