Masterfully blends the past two albums styles together; it seems too curt & catchy in the first half, but the 2nd half let's the orchestral influences shine more so it balances out the earlier's more aggressive punk. rSerj is turning out to be an amazing songwriter in his own right, even by his own previous SOAD standards.
Upon listening to the album more I have found it to be a little different than expected initially, which is why my initial review was lower than I feel now.
this album grows with every listen. don't get irritated by the (in my opinion) worst single or even worst song by serj ever: "Figure It Out". really good! started 3.0. went up.