Lyrical arrangements are often given special attention,
such as in"Lateralus.
However, 10,000 Days was received less favorably by critics than its predecessor Lateralus had been.
A month later,
the band revealed that the new album was actually titled Lateralus; the name Systema Encéphale
and the track list had been a ruse.
Meanwhile, a Lateralus vinyl edition and two DVD singles were released,
and the band's official website received a new splash intro by artist Joshua Davis.
The"double vinyl four-picture disc" edition of Lateralus was first released as a limited autographed
edition exclusively available to fan club members and publicly released on August 23, 2005.
The lyrics on Ænima and Lateralus focus on philosophy and spirituality-specific subjects range from organized religion in"Opiate",
to evolution and Jungian psychology in"Forty-Six & 2" and transcendence in"Lateralus.
Joshua Klein of The A.V.
Club in turn expressed his opinion that Lateralus, with its 79-minute running time
and relatively complex and long songs-topped by the ten-and-a-half minute music video for"Parabola"-posed a challenge to fans and music programming alike.