Word!! This song is pretty good and is better than anything from their last four. I wish the same as you...their original style suits them much better.

Eh, they already did their early albums. I'm glad they changed style as opposed to becoming like the Iced Earths and Gamma Rays of the world who get stagnant and dull later on. I don't want them to go back to making stuff in the early style if they don't want to - after all, the early albums still exist and I can go listen to those if I want that style.

Not to mention they're getting older, and, as the clips from this album show, they have a rough time emulating their old style. As much as I would love another (true) Ecliptica, it's not going to happen, and so if they're going to write more ponderous, somber tunes, I'll take it. Especially if they're as good as they are on Pariah's Child.

The only thing that can bring about a new Ecliptica is a fresh young band who wears their influence on their sleeve. That, or Timeless Miracle.

They became a band in the later albums more fascinated with odd theatrical vocal arrangements, catchy hard rock hooks and epic tracks with tapestries of synth, guitar and vocals working together - some people don't like that, but I think it's a great sound and they do it really well. Between that and endless albums of nothing but happy, jubilant speed/power metal (from a band getting older, as Zelkiiro said), I'd take the former, given that we already have the band's early classics.

Yeah, I'm in the camp that enjoys the change that came with Unia, and it certainly has a lot more dimensions to it than their first four (not that that was two-dimensional or anything), although I feel they've changed a little again with Pariah's Child into something much simpler. I still enjoy it, but I was comparing it with Stones not too long ago and while Stones has a few tracks that fall a little short with me (Shitload of Money not actually being one of them), it does overall still have much more intense songs (and Cinderblox is one of my favourite songs overall of theirs!). Pariah's Child they kind of become more just "pretty", rather than blazing complexity like Unia or an emotional wetland like Days of Grays. We'll have to see where they head next though of course. Hard to judge whether it's long term just from one album. Although it was itself hyped as a "return to form" for some reason actually...

Surprised how good this is. Tony sounds amazing, the production is good and there are enough twists and turns to make it exciting to hear. It doesn't replace the original, but it's good for a re-recording, for sure. There's plenty of heart, passion and pomp here. The songwriting was already good - it's just delivered here in a slightly left-of-field manner, is all.

I found the re-recording surprisingly okay too. I mean, I still don't see the point in the whole thing, but it didn't make me want to burst my eardrums like, say, Exodus' There Will Be Blood did. It's not going to replace the original of course, but it's far from horrible.