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• Reviews & Spotlights
Dream Theater: Parasomnia
Dream Theater surely wasn't sleeping on the making of their latest record Parasomnia that is the crowning achievement of their long-awaited reunion with founding member Mike Portnoy. Many point to Portnoy as being the heart and heartbeat of the progressive rockers and his return to the fold has elevated the pulse-rates of the global progressive metal community and with good reason.
Now, none of this means that James LaBrie, John Petrucci, John Myung and Jordan Rudess were snoozing during his sabbatical from the organization these past fifteen years. They did release five fine albums with the undoubtedly capable Mike Mangini taking up residence in the drummer's seat while scoring their first-ever Grammy Award for "The Alien" from 2021's A View from the Top of the World.
Still, with the release of Parasomnia - a collection of tracks loosely based around the concept of sleep disorders - it's as if Dream Theater has pulled a Rip Van Winkle to awaken from a slumber that finds them picking right up where they left off with 2009's Black Clouds & Silver Linings.
Exciting, explosive, epic and extraordinary are all words that easily apply to the eight songs that range from the crushing "A Broken Man" to the contemplative "Bend The Clock". Surprisingly, with song titles like "Night Terror" and "Dead Asleep" that offer a musical take on the horror genre the overall output on Parasomnia is more inspiring than terrifying as these world class musicians put their skills on display in ways that lesser players can only dream of.
For most of Dream Theater's existence there's been a characteristic to their music that has kept them from achieving say the broader commercial appeal of a Rush or Metallica who have mined similar creative veins. But, absence makes the heart grow fonder - and there is an element of "you can't be missed if you don't go away" - that have resulted in the group's highest charting album of their 40 year career. They couldn't have drawn it up - or dreamed it up - any better. Now, their finicky and often hard to please fan base wants to know - "What's next?"
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Review by Rockin' Rich Lynch |
Dream Theater
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