At the other end of the album, the epic closer, “In Solitude,” also wears its Opeth emotions on its sleeve. This one starts as a ballad, with chiming acoustic guitars and Keene’s lush and plaintive vocal (seriously, the guy is proving himself to be one hell of a vocal chameleon) before the track coarsens and brings the metal. Again, the Opeth impression is spot-on, but just to throw another reference at you, I hear a good chunk of Extol in there as well – particularly in the repeated vocal refrain.

All of these references aren’t to say that The Faceless is well, faceless – slipping on other guises and skins as casually as Hannibal Lecter would don a freshly-carved mask. Quite the opposite; I’m very impressed at how ably the band has incorporated these influences into their already focused and rippling tech-death assault to create something fresh and exciting in the genre.

As for the rest of the album, it’s mostly terrific, though it’s not without a few odd and jarring choices. First among them is in “Deconsecrate,” the follow-up to “Emancipation,” and the closer to the first thematic section of the album. Most of “Deconsecrate” is a bullet-hell shooter disguised as a metal track, and it’s armed with some brilliant power-ups: a demonic Gregorian chant here, a gorgeous sax solo there, and a fantastic, proggy guitar solo at the 4:50 mark. However, there’s also an annoying, dreamy calliope that breezes in at several moments (accompanied by an overly elastic and loungy Mike Patton vocal impression). Sorry, but to me, there’s nothing so hackneyed or overplayed as ‘evil circus’ in prog or metal, and so whenever I hear it, I want to punch a clown.

“Accelerated Evolution” is a strong track all around (Spawn of Possession, you should be writing songs like this, dammit) and one that uses Keene’s clean, Mike Patton-inspired vocals to great effect. The follow-up, “The Eidolon Reality,” however, does not – its crooned chorus is schmaltzy and overcooked, and is repeated way too often for my tastes. Shame, ‘cause the rest of the track features the album’s most psychotic and scribbly guitarwork. The first half of “Ten Billion Years” is somewhat of a dull lurch, but the second half, with more clean vocals and progressive explorations, is much better. And “Hymn of Sanity,” two tracks later, is a dizzying assault that should have been at least 3-4 minutes longer.

Despite those nitpicks, Autotheism has been on steady repeat for the past two weeks or so, and at this point, I’m confident it will show up on my top ten for 2012. If not for a few of those odd gimmicks and off moments (babies, calliopes, one track that should have been way longer, and another ruined by an obnoxious chorus), it could even have been my #1. The mix of competent, controlled and dazzling tech-death with swirling prog and a damn fine Opeth impression satisfies so much of what I find exciting in metal, and the fact that these songs are just so damn listenable (for tech death, at least), rather than jumbling together in a overstuffed mess, is quite the achievement. Gorod beware – you’ve got The Faceless right on your heels.