I guess what I enjoyed so much about
Esoteric Symbolism was its near singleminded dedication to putting the guitar work out and front. Some gorgeous melodies and ideas on display here. They definitely aren't keyboard-led like
Threshold or as overtly technical as
Dream Theater either.
That being said, it IS a dense listen without a whole lot of tonal variety. Some individual songs are exceptionally catchy ('Bodies Of Betrayal', 'Spawn', 'Transhumanist'), but the overall album experience is a long one. The energy, however, is infectious, similar in some respects to a really good alternative rock or pop-punk album.
By the way, nice review of
Natalie Prass. Never heard of her before, but dug into a few other songs and I'm pretty impressed!