The album received mixed reviews from critics . Review aggregation website Metacritic awarded it an average score of 58 out of 100 , based on eight reviews . Writing for The A.V. Club , Chris Mincher rated the album B − , calling it " challenging , uncompromising , and bordering on inaccessible " . Mincher felt that the album was abstract and difficult but contained " hidden payoffs " to reward repeated hearings . He called Patton 's arrangements " haunting " and " wraithlike " . AllRovi 's Thom Jurek rated the album 3 @.@ 5 stars out of 5 , describing the recording as " a very nearly dazzling endeavor that reward patience mightily " . Jurek felt that , as an album , Laborintus II was difficult to grasp at first , by virtue of being a recording of theatrical music , but he praised the performance of Ictus Ensemble , writing of their " bracing freshness and mischievous glee " . Eli Kleman of Sputnikmusic rated it 3 @.@ 5 out of 5 , finding it " fascinating if not unwieldy " . He felt that Laborintus II was perhaps Patton 's most ambitious album to date , but noted that the musician have previously produced similarly avant @-@ garde records in the past . Kleman described the composition as " somber , beautiful , and ominous , but always affecting " .