This band is melodic death metal at the core, but with the "progressive" prefix, you know you're in for some weirdness. I wasn't expecting that much weirdness. There's a lot of "showing off" here, and some of it actually sounds pretty cool. Lots of very melodic passages that often overshadow the metal within, but not so much as to be a turn-off. There's a lot of alternating between harsh and clean vocals, the latter of which sometimes sound out of place—I don't know, either I'm just growing allergic to the mix of both styles, or bands have been doing it wrong-ish lately. ;) Taken individually, there are a lot of good ideas here, but taken as an album, it's like the band threw in everything but the kitchen sink and the result is rather disjointed. In French we say, "Trop, c'est comme pas assez," which roughly translates to "Too much is just as bad as not enough" (I'm sure there's a better expression for that in English). Maybe more focus next time. With that said, I know there's a public for this kind of hyper-eclectic album (Opeth fans, I'm looking in your direction), so A Tale of Fire could be just what some of you reading this are looking for.