This whole "above average" argument is probably nothing more than semantics, but I can't help but be suspicious it's one of those desperate sounding "hey at least it's better than that other shit!" arguments. It's a way of making a correct statement to give the illusion of advancing an argument, but in reality no one was suggesting that the "other shit" was any good, so the only argument that's been refuted is one that was never made.
Personally I find that Belus, taken on its own and not compared to anything, offers something special. I realise it doesn't stand up to earlier material though and I can't be certain that in five years I'll still be actively listening to it. Fallen is, as much as I wanted to like it, a turd, and the only "argument" that could be used in its favour would resemble the one in my first paragraph.