The Enemy Inside Discussion Thread

[Syzzle]

I've got some stuff to do, but I think the lyrics for the first verse and chorus are this


Over and over again
I relive the moment
I buried the burden within
Opened wounds hidden under my skin
Pain is real as I cut that (?)
The face I see every time
I try to speak
Starting at my crying

I'm running from the enemy inside
Looking for life I left behind
These suffocating memories are etched upon my mind
And I can't escape from the enemy inside

There was a picture posted of some of the lyrics to the song in that spam filled mess of a thread. Maybe someone can post it here if they have it.

[mikeyd23]

The sound is really thick. I feel like there's always something interesting going on. The drums have a fat thud to them with cutting toms... the metal approach to the drums work for me here. Mangini's playing comes out more too. The fills and kick drum work in particular start to create a larger style gap between his playing and MP's on past albums (in contrast to ADTOE).

I'm really loving the mix too. I feel like I'm engulfed by the music when I listen to this. I like how JL's vocals are treated like an accompanying instrument rather than the focal point especially on the choruses. I'm sure he'll be more up front in the mix when it calls for it on the album.

Overall, I dig the grooves and the tempo (especially). This one doesn't drag.

I agree with your whole post, but the part I bolded is exactly what I was thinking the first couple times I listened to this track.  The drum sound has improved, for sure, meaning this album will probably widen the gap between MM and MP in terms of style.  Just this track alone has already done that a lot for me personally. 

The fills mostly that MM puts down in this song are what I notice as a difference from MP.  Now that those fills are making more  impact in the mix, unlike ADToE, I can notice the style contrast more.  I love both MM's style and MP's style, but they are certainly different.

Interestingly enough, when ADToE came out, I noticed MM was playing on the back side of the beats, sitting back and grooving a lot, in contrast to MP who often played on the front of the beat, driving the song.  Now I hear this and MM's really driving this tune, differently than he did with songs off of ADToE.

Sounds great!! 

[The Boomr]

Actually I believe someone posted the whole lyrics for TEI in this thread, wayyyyy earlier on, right after 11:00 EST lol. Good luck!

[JPX]

Just listened to the song one more time, and I enjoyed even less the second time around. Sorry all, not feeling this one at all : /

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

The snare on this one sounds like what the I&W snare would sound like if it wasn't the lamest sounding thing to ever have existed.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I like the snare on Images And Words.

[DTFan0789]

The snare on this one sounds like what the I&W snare would sound like if it wasn't the lamest sounding thing to ever have existed.

I'll never understand all of the hate from fans (and MP himself) towards the I&W snare (and kick) sound. I realize that it's the same snare sound from the Firehouse album, but I've always loved that "triggered" electronic sound for some reason.

Oh, and the new track is pretty bad ass. 

[snapple]

I like the snare on Images And Words.

[Dellers]

They should release stems in the deluxe edition again this time (actually I'd want all the tracks, but stems are ok). I really want to even out some things. While I love guitar and even have a JPXI-7 myself, there's just way too much guitar in the mix.

[Jinx]

So, just listened to it.

Its so dynamic, so powerful, and to me it sounds so damn fresh. I sure as hell cant wait to see it live!

Also I think a song like this will appeal outside of the prog/progressive/whateveryouwannalabelit fanbase.

Bring on 24th Sept 

[The Boomr]

The snare on this one sounds like what the I&W snare would sound like if it wasn't the lamest sounding thing to ever have existed.

I'll never understand all of the hate from fans (and MP himself) towards the I&W snare (and kick) sound. I realize that it's the same snare sound from the Firehouse album, but I've always loved that "triggered" electronic sound for some reason.

Oh, and the new track is pretty bad ass. 

I dunno. I just absolutely hate hearing that same exact damn sound byte over and over and OVER throughout the album. MP's explanation of why it's bad is pretty sound: it doesn't let the drummer create any sense of dynamic expression with the snare and/or bass drum when it's triggered like that. It's just one flat sound throughout, no matter how hard or soft he hit the drum in the studio.

They should release stems in the deluxe edition again this time (actually I'd want all the tracks, but stems are ok). I really want to even out some things. While I love guitar and even have a JPXI-7 myself, there's just way too much guitar in the mix.

God this would make me happy. I don't care about mixing it myself (though maybe I'll get into that one of these days), but I love having a track of one single instrument, namely, the drums, so I can learn it more easily! I would be floored if MM released a DVD of him doing the in-studio recordings, a la MP's DVD's....I'm doubting that'll happen, though.

[liran95]

Dammit.
Listened to it once, and it's FUCKING AWESOME <3

But, As I promised myself, I won't be hearing it again until the album comes out.
So... Sucks to be me.

[mabowe]

As much as I LOVE this song, it sounds a bit muddy to me production wise, hoping it is just the stream

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

The snare on this one sounds like what the I&W snare would sound like if it wasn't the lamest sounding thing to ever have existed.

I'll never understand all of the hate from fans (and MP himself) towards the I&W snare (and kick) sound. I realize that it's the same snare sound from the Firehouse album, but I've always loved that "triggered" electronic sound for some reason.

Oh, and the new track is pretty bad ass. 

I dunno. I just absolutely hate hearing that same exact damn sound byte over and over and OVER throughout the album. MP's explanation of why it's bad is pretty sound: it doesn't let the drummer create any sense of dynamic expression with the snare and/or bass drum when it's triggered like that. It's just one flat sound throughout, no matter how hard or soft he hit the drum in the studio.

The ghost notes in the first verse of LTL were the absolute worst. Can't stand em.

The snare just gives the album a feel I don't like in general tbh. Hard to explain.

[Kotowboy]

https://www.progrockmag.com/news/dream-theater-premiere-the-enemy-inside/

^ Is it me - or does this stream sound better than the earlier one ?

[Dark Castle]

https://www.progrockmag.com/news/dream-theater-premiere-the-enemy-inside/

^ Is it me - or does this stream sound better than the earlier one ?

Can't listen, so I couldn't tell ya 

[The Boomr]

https://www.progrockmag.com/news/dream-theater-premiere-the-enemy-inside/

^ Is it me - or does this stream sound better than the earlier one ?

The more pressing question is: Why does Mangini look literally like a complete woman in that picture???

[mikeyd23]

As much as I LOVE this song, it sounds a bit muddy to me production wise, hoping it is just the stream

I'm trying to hold off that judgement until we get an album quality listen to the track, not a stream from Soundcloud... But you're right it's a little muddy, hopefully the stream does play a role in that. Noxon, a poster here who has heard the album, made the statement the streaming single is more compressed than the album version, so that right there should help!!

[Kotowboy]

Haha ! He almost looks younger than me and i'm 34

O_o

[The Boomr]

The ghost notes in the first verse of LTL were the absolute worst. Can't stand em.

The snare just gives the album a feel I don't like in general tbh. Hard to explain.

Oh it's the worst. So terrible. I'm actually surprised I'm able to get around that horrible snare sound on I&W to love the album as much as I do.

[The Boomr]

Haha ! He almost looks younger than me and i'm 34

O_o

Hahaha. I think it's his hair. It looks like a very obviously female style, it's pulled over in weird places. Wtf. We don't need more fuel for the Mangina fire...LOL

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

The snare on this one sounds like what the I&W snare would sound like if it wasn't the lamest sounding thing to ever have existed.

I'll never understand all of the hate from fans (and MP himself) towards the I&W snare (and kick) sound. I realize that it's the same snare sound from the Firehouse album, but I've always loved that "triggered" electronic sound for some reason.

Oh, and the new track is pretty bad ass. 

For the post and  for mentioning Firehouse!

[Dark Castle]

The snare on this one sounds like what the I&W snare would sound like if it wasn't the lamest sounding thing to ever have existed.

I'll never understand all of the hate from fans (and MP himself) towards the I&W snare (and kick) sound. I realize that it's the same snare sound from the Firehouse album, but I've always loved that "triggered" electronic sound for some reason.

Oh, and the new track is pretty bad ass. 

For the post and  for mentioning Firehouse!

We're talking the band Firehouse right? I love that band

[FlyingBIZKIT]

I don't quite understand the complaints. I think this song is fantastic.

[Kotowboy]

I don't quite understand the complaints. I think this song is fantastic.

Agreed 100%

This song gave me goosebumps from the first hit.

I was live tweeting my reactions which were something like

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

DRUMS

GO MANGINI !!!

[Dark Castle]

I don't quite understand the complaints. I think this song is fantastic.

You and me both man.

[dparrott]

I like the booming "POW" snare in the original PMU compared to the flat "crack" snare in the non-triggered version.  The drums in those remixes lost the impact of the originals.

[Jaffa]

I don't quite understand the complaints. I think this song is fantastic.

Well, keep things in perspective.  It may seem like a lot of people are complaining, but if you go look at the poll about it, 19 people think the song is a masterpiece, 153 people think it's great, 55 people think it's average, and exactly 4 people say they hate it.  I'd hardly call it a negative reaction overall.

[wasteland]

I don't quite understand the complaints. I think this song is fantastic.

Agreed 100%

This song gave me goosebumps from the first hit.

I was live tweeting my reactions which were something like

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

DRUMS

GO MANGINI !!!

It' s funny, 'cause a drummer friend of mine told me that he was generally unimpressed by his playing. While he premised that he is well aware of his technical proficiency, he cited that he was unconvinced by the way he handled the groove, as with all his other performances.

Of course I am no drummer, so I just took the high road and dismissed him without arguing 

[Kotowboy]

MM is a technical monster but he definitely can groove.

[FlyingBIZKIT]

As a drummer, I'm highly impressed with his playing. People just love to nit-pick

[The Boomr]

MM has, in my experience, far outpaced any other drummer I've ever heard in the ability to play absolutely monstrous technical passages, but still groove beautifully. He is a master.

[Kotowboy]

I'm now downloading the MP3 from Amazon.


I'll let you know how it sounds compared to the SC stream

[The Boomr]

I'm now downloading the MP3 from Amazon.


I'll let you know how it sounds compared to the SC stream

It's out already??

[The Boomr]

Guys....it's not even funny how many times I've clicked "Show new replies to your posts." to continue reading everyone's take on the new single. WTF is wrong with me. I have been so unproductive at work this past week, pretty much.....