Everyone into progressive metal will know Dream Theater. Or should. And probably a lot of people into symphonic rock as well.
The band is regarded as one of the founders of the current genre and sure as hell kick major ass with their often mind boggling combination of technical prowess and musicianship.
Led by drummer extra-ordinaire Mike Portnoy and guitar wizard John Petrucci, they have recorded another set of songs to set your world on fire.
By adding more vocals (mostly Portnoy) they even succeeded in broadening their already broad horizon. But I guess we already know what to expect when we see 6 tracks clocking in at over 75 minutes.
Yes, that would be a lot of time changes, various moods within and between the songs, excessive soloing and ultra fast playing from all members, and James LaBrie trying to hold it all together with his singing. And while the latter has often been ” accused” of screaming, I think he does a terrific job here. More natural, more feel and more melodies. Great.
Also I feel that there is more room for the songs to breathe here. And that space works really well. At least I had little problem listening to the album a couple of times in a row. Whereas some previous albums suffered from too much ideas in too little time. And too many notes at the same time.
So I my book this is one of DT´s better albums in recent years. No personal play tips, you get what you expect here.
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