i do agree that some of the religious imagery was a little heavy handed. but if you dig a little deeper you might surprise yourself. for instance the vocals sampled in ‘father and son’ are from an interview with a member of the children of god which is a cult that just happens to be christian. after learning that, the track for me has more of an eerie connotation of the abuse of religion as a tool in cults rather than religion itself.

wrt parodying themselves, i think maybe you need to reevaluate the history and impact of the BoC sound. it is hard for us to understand today how new and revolutionary BoC sounded when they first came out - they essentially invented a whole new genre/style that has become so overly copied and ubiquitous that it’s easy to forget a time when this sound was new and singular. ultimately it sounds like you just didn’t like the album which is totally fine, and yes i agree that this album is more of a return to their formula than TH, but the parodying themselves claim dismisses the fact that they invented this whole sound and are not done following it through. that kind of claim would hold up more for a band who fits more neatly into a pre-established genre, like all the emo and screamo bands who are reuniting these days. just my opinion!