"My favorite release of 2007. While many prog metal bands like Dream Theater starting to sound a bit stagnant and uninspired, BtBaM went the whole hog in the opposite direction. Exceptional dynamics, musicianship and song writing, while never skimping on emotion, make for an album so musically perfect to me, that I wouldn't change a thing about it. The only weak point is the production. The drums are too high in the mix and the guitars are slightly muddy, but fortunately this is not a huge problem."
"Another step forward for the band after the very inconsistent The Silent Circus . Great songwriting and musicianship, with some very technical moments. Vocally, you can except clean vocals, deathcore/metalcore screams and death growls for a good variety. Selkies:The Endless Obsession is no doubt the highlight track of the album, with an absolutely amazing instrumental section with incredibly emotional soloing from Paul Waggoner, climaxing in his amazingly smooth sweep picked section. Some niggling problems are an inconsistent mix, with the guitars sounding almost a bit too chainsawish at times (too much high end) and a the drums being a little too forward in the mix."
"I was not able to appreciate the harsher elements of this type of music back when the album came out ... it is interesting how (musical) taste can change over the years. I really like the album now, and the remix/remaster in 2020 really improved things, all the little details come out much clearer now.
IMO this is a masterpiece. Even though some BtBaM albums that followed were even (a tiny bit better), this release firmly established the band as the leading Extreme Prog Metal artist. Extreme, melodic, sophisticated, weird ... perfection."
