Plus points:

+ Recording-wise, its sounds really good. Satisfyingly weighty.
+ There are some dead good riffs in places/chord progressions
+ I can imagine people who maybe don't listen to a great deal of metal really getting into it, and it leading them onto other more interesting, intricate stuff

Negative points:

- The singing. The clean, fairly naff vocals start to grate really quickly. Just too a bit too clean and harmonious.
- Its a bit 'nice', y'know? For a metal record there's a definite lack of brutality (its there in places for sure, but not very often)
- Seems a bit cheesy in places. Too happy sounding, perhaps?

Overall: This years Baroness? Thats not meant to be a pissy, aloof comment, I just think its an apt comparison. Both very, very accessible Pitchfork-friendly metal/rock records, to generalise hugely.

Thoughts?