Looking back on the last decade of the Mike Portnoy-less Dream Theater, I must admit that it feels like they had a hard time adjusting to life without him when I listen through those records. Not that the albums were bad by any means or that the replacement drummer Mike Mangini didn’t cut it, because he did, I mean the guy is a phenomenal drummer. But since Portnoy was such a huge part of the band – he co-wrote songs and he was the co-producer on many albums with a very personal drumming style, it felt like the rest of the band was a bit insecure. The first records with Mangini had the drums way lower in the mix than usual, something that got slightly better with each release. Finally on the last album Distance Over Time (2019), Mangini’s drums were where they supposed to be and Dream Theater, in my book, sounded like they used to sound. To me, that’s also their finest effort since Mangini joined the band on all accounts.
The pandemic made it impossible to fully tour that record which meant that Dream Theater did what most bands did – they recorded new material and that material is out now for us all to digest. The album opens with the first taster (Dream Theater never really did release singles) “The Alien”, a heavy and brutal monster of a prog-metal song that also holds a quite smooth and beautiful melody-line and everything here has Dream Theater written all over it. The song goes back and forth with aggressive, chuggy metal-riffs into grooves, it holds technical frenzies and back-beats but also bluesier moments but never in the song’s almost 10 minutes do they lose any memorability when it comes to the melodies. A long song for a lead-off single (well…) but it works. A great tune.
The following “Answering The Call” brings on an upbeat groove and some chunky catchy riffing that works very well on the rhythmic stomps of Mangini and John Myung. The verses are a bit more held-back yet with a chunky bounce and the tune is back-beat driven albeit with some smooth guitar-lines all over, a stand-out keyboard orchestration and the piano is really spot on. The vocal-lines goes into ballad territory, very memorable and the chorus hits right where it should. That being said, it’s not a ballad we get here, it’s heavy number with some downtuned, metal-crunchy riffage to go with it. Very good.
Another taster, “Invisible Monster” is a slower paced Hard Rock progger on quite a straight-forward route. It opens on a quiet note as a bit of a breather but later carries on in a faster pace albeit with a more prominent melodic outlook with a chorus on top that shows the band giving it an even pop-fueled touch making it very direct and effectively catchy. Style-wise the song comes across as a mixture between the more accessible moments of Octavarium (2005) and Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009). Brilliant stuff.
“Sleeping Giant” comes bouncing off as a prog-metal beast – upbeat, punchy and powerful with a mid-paced verses structure but a way more straight ahead and edgy refrain. Another 10-minute belter, the tune offers us everything that is Dream Theater – fat riffs, time-changes, rhythmic prog-beats but also a drum-solo by Mangini plus some Jon Lord inspired organ by Jordan Rudess. That said, James LaBrie’s vocal-melodies are all accessible no matter if we’re talking verse or the nuanced and the refrain is really catchy. This is terrific.
The latest single/video “Transcending Time” takes a way more smooth turn and holds an AOR-ish touch albeit with a prog-rock back-bone where Rush’s slicker days comes to mind, spiced up with a Kansas touch. The verses holds back some on a lighter note blended with a 70’s Melodic Rock vibe and a classic Dream Theater melody-structure. The chorus is massively catchy, pop-toned and late 70’s/early 80’s AOR-isms without going sugary which marries fine with pomp-laden keyboards and the gorgeous piano-lines. It’s a stellar tune that shows off Dream Theater’s melodic influences. I love it.
“Awaken The Master”, which also comes wth a promotion video, kicks off frantic and heavy with some menacing and chuggy guitar-riffage which reminds me of the Train Of Thoughts (2003) days. It’s sludgy, gloomy and hard but with a proggy groove-swing to it. It takes on a faster pace where a rowdy and rough 70’s sounding organ, again glimpsing at Jon Lord, the master of the keys. The slows down some and adds a beautiful piano before it takes on the prog-rock groove again with stompy rhythms and heavy guitars. Also inserted is an Eastern-sounding, “Gates Of Babylon” (Rainbow)-like keyboard for good measure. It’s rough-edged and metal-heavy but also holds effective hooks, prominent vocal-melodies with an intense and catchy chorus. Very good indeed.
The title-track is a 21-minute, mastodon, epic behemoth – not an easy-digested piece of fast-food, in other words. It starts out with some futuristic sounding keyboards that sounds like a sci-fi movie-score of sorts before the song takes off with some intense heaviness, dark vibes and gritty, hard-edged guitar riffing on a stone-hard rhythm. The chorus changes the structure a bit into something more melody-driven and lighter before it takes a laid-back path. A passage that is a complete prog-jam-fest where the band goes off which turns into another passage that’s more of a breather, mellow and darkening with acoustic guitar, piano and orchestrated keyboards.
But we’re not done just yet because here comes a down-beat song-structure that turns the song into a prog-rock ballad with a gorgeous guitar-solo signed John Petrucci before it bursts out heavy and punchy, very prog-metal with a pomp keyboard. It also throws in a bit of 70’s style Classic Rock – and everything differs to each other yet falls into place like the most natural thing in the world. The song ends on a slow, heavy and dark note with rough punches and in-your-face, fat riffing. The song is like a mini-opera in itself with a lot of songs within the song. A lot to digest. I really like it but it will take a while to fully get a grip on it.
Sound-wise and stylistically, this record is not a far cry from the last record but this one is slightly stronger song-wise and the production is better here. The last one sounded a bit too compressed and at times stale while this one breathes more and has an earthier soundscape. Also, it finally feels like Mangini has gotten the space and sound he deserves, something that was well on the way on the last record. That being said, Dream Theater is one of those bands that will give the fans what they and good or bad, that means not many surprises. However, the way I see it, I want my Dream Theater to sound like Dream Theater and I get that here. Besides, I never become bored with this lot. Final verdict: A great album and the best with Mangini.
8/10
More Dream Theater reviews:
Dream Theater
The Astonishing
Distance Over Time
Tracklist:
1. The Alien
2. Answering The Call
3. Invisible Monster
4. Sleeping Giant
5. Transcending Time
6. Awaken The Master
7. A View From The Top Of The World
CD & Festival reviews 