I actually find it the best put-together of the longer Senjutsu songs, even if it feels to me like they rolled a couple of encores into it and made it sound like a show closer.
Best written song on the album? Every song is well written more or less, but from the longer songs I would say: The Parchment and the title track. No second repeat of the chorus in Hell On Earth and the instrumental section of LIALW (not the chorus!) and even of DOTC could have been a
bit shorter (although the main instrumental melody in the long songs should be repeated at least twice imo). Lost World would be with a standard length of a song without the intro & outro. Parchment, Senjutsu, Celts and Hell On Earth have a perfect combination of music and lyrics.
About The Parchment - I think it needs the repetition because you have to keep the mesmerizing vibe with the melodies (with solos and vocals too) on point throughout the song and the tempo is perfect for that. That's why it doesn't even need a chorus. The repetition is also needed for the build-up of the climax with the fast part. Like the title track needs more lyrics to picture the scene. And if you add more different parts (melodies/riffs), it will be a mess. One epic song should have a main structure and theme. I think they rolled a couple of encores into its twin song from the previous album (TRATB ) - it also could have been a great 7-8 minutes long song with: only two repeats of the riff after the bass intro, without the ''
Meanwhile we play the waiting game...'' part and the ''oh-ohs'' after it, only three repetitions of the chorus (not four) and a shorter instrumental section (1 minute shorter, for example). Whereas The Parchment won't work if it's shorter (like Book Of Souls and Empire). It sounds like a show closer because it has a similar structure to HBTN.