I have come to the conclusion that the distorted voices are a feature and not a flaw. Nothing is clear cut when dealing with the mystical ;-)
There is a basic repetitive metal/hard rock core to this album with variations to make it interesting. I like the blues guitar influences but there is everything from ambient sounds to avant garde twisted strings, crystal clear acoustic to heavily distorted electronica.
With repeated listening this album has grown on me.
This album might be on the light side for metal fans, and on the strange side for hard rock fans. Give it a listen anyway, you might just cross over...