The cymbals on City are immaculately lively and I wish Common Existence's cymbals sounded more like that. But to each their own, haha. I personally love that Thrice took risks on this album, but I'll need more time to decide what the results are.
I think this album is amazing. Sometimes I like the directness of the lyrics and sometimes I prefer the more vague aspects of their older lyrics, really depends on my mood. One thing this album is though is honest. 9 albums in and the guitar tones sound better then ever imo. I even thoroughly enjoy the straight forwardness of wake up and blood on the sand, having grown up loving STP, Foo Fighters, Audioslave, etc. I think some Thrice fans might not like that style of rock and roll, but I think it's really cool that they are trying it out having never really done it before. I just hope going forward they continue pushing boundaries.