I'm not "insulting" synths per se, I'm insulting the sound capabilities of the consoles such games were released on. Some of those songs became immortal once given room in other environments (once again Bloody Tears started on the NES and just listen to that guy I linked playing it on the piano) but while the tune is the same, the result is much different.
HoD's music isn't my favourite in the saga (I'm a classicvania guy) but it sounds like very good music... played by a guy blowing a leaf and hammering on a keyboard that only has 2 keys. The fault isn't in the music, but when you're working on a platform that is so limited in terms of musical reproduction, you're stuck with working on songs that hold their own thanks to the tune.
The genius in Castlevania's case was that Konami put a lot of resources in composing and they managed to get a consistent track of excellent tunes. But the NES/GBA's sound capabilities remain crap.
Despite IGA's lame excuse that the focus on graphics strained the engine so much that the sound capabilities were degraded, I think it was purposely done in HoD's case. I feel that in HoD, it takes into account the limitations and even relies on them. If anything, you're actually underestimating the sound capabilities. And besides that, HoD's music is pretty distinct even when compared to Metroidvania titles anyway. It manages to be complex, dynamic, yet still catchy and hummable. I would group it up with SCVIV with the more unique soundtracks in the series. I personally find there's a beauty in limitations. Every arrangement of HoD music I found just pales to the original song.
My problem with the Araujo tracks is that they feel extremely excessive to me. Araujo likes to use a variety of techniques and layers but I don't think they hold up to form good individual songs. I am just not feeling the way a lot of the songs develop or how his use of techniques contribute to the identity of a track. Laura's Mercy is good, but it helps that it's short. But in the longer tracks, they start to meander to me. So there may be parts I like in a song, but as a whole, I don't think those parts build to form a cohesive song. There needs to be more in pulling the song together. Otherwise, they just sound disjointed to me and I can't enjoy the soundtrack. I also have problems with the mixing, because there really isn't that clear of a order or priority with the instruments, and despite all the proficient techniques employed, it fails to be distinctive. So it all just fails on what I would consider a good soundtrack.