Only had the chance to listen to it once, but I can already tell it's Epica's most cohesive work to date. It also have a heavier sound to it, though still sticking to the Prog side which makes the band stands out in musical terms and Simone is in great form.
An album that concludes "The Embrace That Smothers" series that was first initiated by Mark Jansen when he was still in After Forever which talks about God created all those religions and let mankind find out that it's actually the same in the end.
Epica probably needs no introduction especially to female fronted Symphonic/Gothic Metal fans. If you still don't know about Epica and lead singer Simone Simons, you'd better find out more about them if Tarja era nightwish is your thing. Simone's classically trained mezzo-soprano voice mixed with Mark Jansen's growls and songwriting and you get Epica.