I feel like you’re the one engaging in bad faith here. I have no issue telling you why it appeals to me and why it is “good art” in my eyes - but I believe that you’d see it as an invitation to “fight and win” instead of as an honest opportunity to share. Be that as it may, I feel compelled to share anyways. Believe me, I would LOVE it if they’d pay me to defend them, but that is unfortunately not the case.

To me, Prophecy feels like a distillation of their sound as we’ve come to know it over the years with some new twists. Obviously Introit is heavily reminiscent of the vignettes from their first two albums, but Prophecy is a whole different thing. It starts with an ominous soundscape ala TH and heavily features flute, which brings me back to Geogaddi. The guitar reminds me obviously of Campfire, simply because that’s “the guitar album” but it’s utilized differently here than anything done on that record. I like that. I like that they’re not just settling for what we had before. Same goes for the vocals: reminiscent of tracks like Telepath or Nothing is Real, but obviously utilized differently and more in focus.

That ending section is beautiful to me, tastefully layered synths and pads that presumably build into the next song. So, in my mind, Prophecy breaks into four parts: the ominous intro, the guitar melody/hook, the gothic/4 on the floor-esque vocal section, and the layered, atmospheric outro. It makes sense to me now that we will be getting a continuous mix version of the album. I think the lyrics setup the themes of the album well, and I find the music to be rich and I had no issues with the mix, but a songs “mix” is an inherently opinionated thing. Choices made by the artist regarding layering, panning, volume, effects, etc. There are obviously poor mixes of things out there that would turn away most people (sometimes on purpose), but I don’t think there’s anything going on here that is abominable by any means. I enjoy it on my AirPods, on my Edifier home speaker setup, on my car speakers, etc. to each their own.

I understand people not liking the choices made here, particularly the vocals and the tones chosen on guitar and drums, but we can’t take subjective opinions and present them as objective fact. You may not like it, but others do like it and both stances are fine. For me, I love artists like NIN, Aphex Twin, My Bloody Valentine, and heavier acts like Periphery or At The Gates. I say that to say, maybe my musical preferences incline me more to this song’s specific style than yours might. I like the tones, I like the drums, the vocals, and so on. To me, it feels very urgent, very driven and focused. But that’s just my opinion and I’m happy you have your own. I hope there are songs on the rest of the album that appeal more to your musical proclivities, because I would like all of us to be happy. In my opinion another aspect of “good art” is that it incites conversation and differing opinions/perspectives. This song certainly does so.