just finished listening to the album, and I must say it is a very good album, though I have enjoyed all of their albums. It sort of hurts that this band doesn't get the respect that they deserve, but then again, if they did get the props they sdeserve, it may hurt the quality of their music (look at Metallica in the 80 and now for a comparison)
I agree with everything you said. I think maybe they haven't gotten any respect because they aren't on a huge record label like Sony or Capitol or whatever.