Poetry For The Poisoned (studio album) by Kamelot

Say what you will about power metal bands, if they can't (or don't) break away and develop from their double-bass, dragons & magic beginnings, they are unlikely to be much more than meh. Granted, Kamelot was never quite that generic, but they have gone through (nearly) a major sound change per album since Siege Perilous and this is no exception, embracing the dark vibe foreshadowed in Ghost Opera. I'm torn between choosing a best Kamelot album and admitting it's impossible to decide, but I don't doubt that Poetry is their most refined and technically professional album yet. The guitar work, including some from Gus G. (formerly from Dream Evil and currently with Ozzy) is great, but what you'll notice instantly is the drums, which are orders of magnitude more complex and interesting than most anything known to power metal, and a good deal better than Kamelot's previous works, to the point where you'd think it was no longer Casey Grillo on drums.
My complaints are simple:
The four part titular track, as great as it was, should have been closer to 15 minutes, not the 9:27 it was; there's no point in splitting up a song that short into four parts.
The lyrics are not nearly as good as in their Karma/Epica days (though few albums anywhere are).
Additionally, Once Upon a Time is a bit weak.

Not bad, but not necessarily great by Kamelot's standards. House on a Hill is one of their best songs, but the rest of the tracks are a tad uneven.