This was my initial impression, too. Odd thing is I used to think Marshalls were too
bright and bitey, and craved the darker/warmer take on Marshall circuits like what
Bogner did with the XTC and Shiva models. I still own a Goldfinger 45 and used to have
a Shiva.
Now I really dig that upper-mid focus Marshalls seem to have in spades and have moved
back away from the low-mid emphasis of some of the "modern interpretations" of
iconic Marshall circuits.
Cool that with the Fractal line you don't have to eliminate one option to go with another.