To take a page from robwebster's way of doing things, I will try and compile all of the known info about the new album at the moment.
(MOD EDIT: This thread is for facts, not for speculation or other non-helpful posting. Use this thread for that.)
Album Artwork -
Revealed on the 1st of December.Listening PartiesNorway - 14th of January
Italy - 18th of January
France - 20th of January (in collaboration with the
Your Majesty forum)
ReviewsMetal HammerWebsiteThe album title was officially confirmed as "The Astonishing" in a post on Facebook and Twitter on the
2nd of November, 2015.The tracklist, along with other details (including characters, a map, videos and NOMACS as well as 'Places' which is currently locked) is currently being slowly revealed on the
offcial album website, unveiled on the
5th of November.Characters -
Emperor Nafaryus (The Great Northern Empire of the Americas)
Arhys (Ravenskill Rebel Militia) -
Revealed on the 23rd of November.Gabriel (Ravenskill Rebel Militia) -
Revealed on the 27th of November.Evangeline (Ravenskill Rebel Militia) -
Revealed on the 7th of December.Empress Arabelle (The Great Northern Empire of the Americas) -
Revealed on the 14th of December.Daryus (The Great Northern Empire of the Americas) -
Revealed on the 22nd of December.Faythe (The Great Northern Empire of the Americas) -
Revealed on the 28th of December.Xander (Ravenskill Rebel Militia) -
Revealed on the 11th of January.Map -
Discernible Locations -
Upper Far-Left (The Northern Highlands, The Vanishing Forest, Silver Head Mountains)
Middle Left (Endless Isleland, New Maineland, Victory Isleland, Upper Yorke Bay, New Pavonya) -
Revealed on the 23rd of November.Lower Far-Left (Yorkeland, Empress Alley, Crooked Lake, Bullhead Corners, Borderland) -
Revealed on the 27th of November.Upper Far-Right (North Point, Idlehaven, Great Northern Sound, Ravenskill) -
Revealed on the 7th of December.Upper Far-Left (Widow's Peak, The Grand Highway, New Anglya) -
Revealed on the 14th of December.Lower Left (Flat Rock, Sandy Creek, Lower Yorke Bay) -
Revealed on the 22nd of December.Upper Left (The Cave Notch, Prayer Rock Ridge, Withered Hills, Perpetual View, Fort Truth, The Black Plains, Stone Bridge Hollow, Little Eagle Way, Common Highway) -
Revealed on the 28th of December.Lower Far-Right (No Locations) -
Revealed on the 11th of January.Tracklist -
Act I
1. Descent of the NOMACS
2. Dystopian Overture
3.
The Gift of Music - 4:07
4. The Answer
5. A Better Life
6. Lord Nafaryus
7. A Savior in the Square
8. When Your Time Has Come
9. Act of Faythe
10. Three Days
11. The Hovering Sojourn
12. Brother, Can You Hear Me?
13. A Life Left Behind
14. Ravenskill
15. Chosen
16. A Tempting Offer
17. Digital Discord
18. The X Aspect
19. A New Beginning
20. The Road to Revolution
Act II
1. 2285 Entr'acte
2. Moment of Betrayal
3. Heaven's Cove
4. Begin Again
5. The Path That Divides
6. Machine Chatter
7. The Walking Shadow
8. My Last Farewell
9. Losing Faythe
10. Whispers on the Wind
11. Hymn of a Thousand Voices
12. Our New World
13. Power Down
14. Astonishing
Act I: Tracks 1 - 5 revealed on the 5th of November, Tracks 6 - 11 revealed on the 9th of November, Tracks 12 - 17 (dividing the columns) revealed on the 12th of November, Tracks 18 - 20 revealed on the 16th of November.
Act II: Tracks 1 - 3 revealed on the 16th of November, Tracks 4 - 14 revealed on the 23rd of November.
Videos -
Album Trailer -
Revealed on the 11th of January.Confirmed PersonnelDream Theater -
James LaBrie – lead vocals
John Petrucci – guitar
Jordan Rudess – keyboards
John Myung – bass
Mike Mangini – drums, percussion
Guests-
David Campbell – Orchestrations
Eric Rigler – Bagpipes
Production -
Jie Ma – artwork (Found on
https://www.behance.net/jiema37)
Richard Chycki – Engineering and Mixing
Release DateJanuary 29th release date
confirmed.LabelRoadrunner Records
Recording ScheduleDream Theater
enter the studio in February, with initial plans to release the album in the Fall.
Recording broken up by 30th anniversary tour in June + Delay to
early 2016.James LaBrie begins recording vocals on the
6th of August.Recording ends on the
25th of September.Mixing process begins on the
13th of October.Mixing process close to end on the
29th of November.Mastering comes to an end on the
10th of December.InterviewsRolling Stone Interview with 'The Gift of Music' debut.-Jan 29th release date.
-Recurring Themes with atypical song structures.
-David Campbell collaboration bringing a full orchestra and multiple choirs as well as some unorthodox instruments.
-Process took about two and a half years with a year to finish the story.
-Length around two hours and ten minutes.
-Campbell often elaborated beyond simple orchestrations as in 'The Answer'.
-James Labrie plays seven different characters.
-New characters, Faythe and Arabelle mentioned.
-Elaborate stage show.
Additional Info / Confirmed by noxon-Eric Rigler plays Bagpipes on the album.
-There will be a Tango Part.
-NOMAC tracks are rhythmical noise.
-Track length will be shorter and will be similar to albums like 'The Wall' and 'Tommy' (as well as the general approach).
-More vocally driven.
-Track lengths are visibly shown as
.
-Piano and orchestrations will have more prominance than usual.
-Akin to Falling into Infinity, Scenes from a Memory, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence and Octavarium mixed together.
-Act of Faythe is a ballad.
-Less technical and more melodic than usual.
Pre-Order Infohttps://www.dreamtheater.net/preorder-Digital Album
-Standard 2 CD Set
-Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set
-Vinyl Box Set
-Ultimate Bundle
Other UpdatesAugust 3rd
Jordan Rudess
"Fans Will Find What We Have Been Working On Interesting".September 4th
John Petrucci
"This new album is definitely not like anything else we’ve done before" (To Rich Wilson). - (
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dreamtheater/comments/3ka7e8/the_prog_interview_john_petrucci_some_info_on_new/ for those who don't want to sign up to the site)
September 17th
John Petrucci
"The new album will be a further progression of the band's creative identity" (To Revolver Magazine).
October 23rd
The Great Northern Empire vs The Ravenskill Rebel Militia page.
November 2nd
Faction Emails from
Commander Arhys and
Emperor Nafaryus.
November 5th
Twitter accounts from
Commander Arhys and
Emperor Nafaryus become active and link to the official album website.
November 18th
Email from Arhys with
NOMAC blueprints.Feel free to tell me what I'm missing or edit this post if you can.