ibeginwiththeendinmind

That section is actually a recreation of a synth part from the original track. I agree it sounds kinda weird, and that's why I painstakingly matched the original to within a few milliseconds. As far as I can tell, its originally recorded in free time, because there seems to be no internal logic to the timing and rhythm. I do agree that it sounds awkward; which is a problem in the mixing, i think. Now that I've been able to step back from the track for a while, I hear a lot of things I could have done better in the mix, and not having that part so much in the forefront is a big one. Pulling it back in the balance, adding some reverb/delay to reduce the abruptness of it; I had quad tracked the guitars, so maybe taking it back to two for that section, etc. As for the disparity you hear between the two of them, I don't know what to tell you. There isn't any difference: I copy pasted those guitar parts, because it took so much work to get it right four times, I didn't feel like doing it again for four more.

The arrangement of this one is sounding really good! I actually really like the baroque-ish take at the end. I think it could really benefit from some real rhythm guitars though, particularly at the :47 mark, and bass too. It feels really lacking in low end frequency spectrum--even if you brought the bass part down an octave I think it would really help. One further thing I think could really help is some variation in the velocities of the drum hits to make it feel a little more human. Most noticeable at the end with the steady hi-hat--that gets fatiguing fast. I think the drum writing is really great, and the lead guitars give off a serious Yngwie vibe. Its coming along nicely.

Sounding really good! Something that I'm hearing would be a little variation in the piano part; maybe some arpeggiation of the chords here and there, or some flourishes or changes in rhythmyc pattern to keep it from getting monotonous. The guitar could also use some compression to even it out, but like you said you're a ways off from mixing stages, so I'm sure you know that already. I really like the breaks at 1:28, etc. and your chord voicings over all; really gives a new flavor to the tune.

If you still need help with this one, I'd be happy to jump in!

By the looks of how this is shaping up, I'll likely need and 'Evanescence' style vocalist for this track. Any suggestions?

I'll take Shanoa, if I may. I'm feeling kind of an Undertaker meets Lita sound happening there...