The Great Northern Empire or the Ravenskill Rebel Militia?

[tofee35]

The Great Northern Empire email reads like an Ultimate Warrior promo if he partook in Live Action Role Playing.

[Train of Naught]

My idea was that this would only have to do with one song (maybe the big epic) with a The Great Debate kind of style, where the same thing is viewed from different angles.

[BlobVanDam]

The Great Northern Empire email reads like an Ultimate Warrior promo if he partook in Live Action Role Playing.

Actually both emails kind of do, except there wasn't enough coke involved.

[Nefarius]

"Lord Nafaryus"

Don't worry, it's definitely not me.

I've been using this name since 1998. So far I never got any money from Blizzard for its dragon variants in World Of Warcraft. Let's see how it will work out this time.

DT may contact me for a meet and greet next gig in Austria though.
I'll even sign their Empire stuff if they ask nicely!

Greetings...
Nef Naf

[Kotowboy]

The Great Northern Empire email reads like an Ultimate Warrior promo if he partook in Live Action Role Playing.

Actually both emails kind of do, except there wasn't enough coke involved.

Just realised that if they release a Blu Ray of Live at London Palladium - we'll have two live releases called LALP 

[MirrorMask]

I wish they would record it here in Milan, at the Arcimboldi theatre:

[ToT-147]

It always was difficult to defend my DT-fandom to normal  people, but now with this? Impossible! We're doomed! Trapped inside this nerdavarium.

So "normal people" are people who don't listen to Dream Theater?..

I don't get that.. Neither why the voting closed October 30.. Mysteries of life..

[ariich]

So "normal people" are people who don't listen to Dream Theater?..

Correct.

[Dani Helios]

Noble ancestral heritage, and otherworldly comfort forged by millennia of custom and tradition, in which We extend warmest of well wishes and greetings to you, Our Most Loyal Subjects, Our Beloved Citizens, O' ye the divinely appointed tributaries flooding the lake of prosperity manifested as Our thriving metropolis, Our beacon of freedom from struggle through freedom to struggle that is The Great Northern Empire Of The Americas. It is I, Lord Nafaryus, Emperor and Head of the Realm, Heir to the Mantle of Makers, Supplier of sustenance, Giver of purpose and reason, who hereby directly addresses you, Our blessed engines of productivity, you keepers of harmony, and collective responsibility, with the loving guidance We enduringly provide through the firm hand of Royal might.

... Let's look closer.

Noble ancestral heritage, and otherworldly comfort forged by millennia of custom and tradition, in which We extend warmest of well wishes and greetings to you, Our Most Loyal Subjects, Our Beloved Citizens, O' ye the divinely appointed tributaries flooding the lake of prosperity manifested as Our thriving metropolis, Our beacon of freedom from struggle through freedom to struggle that is The Great Northern Empire Of The Americas.

Did you see it? Look again.

]Noble ancestral heritage, and otherworldly comfort forged by millennia of custom and tradition, in which We extend warmest of well wishes and greetings to you, Our Most Loyal Subjects, Our Beloved Citizens, O' ye the divinely appointed tributaries flooding the lake of prosperity manifested as Our thriving metropolis,

Closer?

Our thriving metropolis

metropolis

METROPOLIS

[Ben_Jamin]

I don't think it's Metropolis pt. 3. Metropolis is a fancy way of saying a big city.

[Dani Helios]

I don't think it's Metropolis pt. 3. Metropolis is a fancy way of saying a big city.

I think I was joking. 

[CoT67]

Noble ancestral heritage, and otherworldly comfort forged by millennia of custom and tradition, in which We extend warmest of well wishes and greetings to you, Our Most Loyal Subjects, Our Beloved Citizens, O' ye the divinely appointed tributaries flooding the lake of prosperity manifested as Our thriving metropolis, Our beacon of freedom from struggle through freedom to struggle that is The Great Northern Empire Of The Americas. It is I, Lord Nafaryus, Emperor and Head of the Realm, Heir to the Mantle of Makers, Supplier of sustenance, Giver of purpose and reason, who hereby directly addresses you, Our blessed engines of productivity, you keepers of harmony, and collective responsibility, with the loving guidance We enduringly provide through the firm hand of Royal might.

... Let's look closer.

Noble ancestral heritage, and otherworldly comfort forged by millennia of custom and tradition, in which We extend warmest of well wishes and greetings to you, Our Most Loyal Subjects, Our Beloved Citizens, O' ye the divinely appointed tributaries flooding the lake of prosperity manifested as Our thriving metropolis, Our beacon of freedom from struggle through freedom to struggle that is The Great Northern Empire Of The Americas.

Did you see it? Look again.

]Noble ancestral heritage, and otherworldly comfort forged by millennia of custom and tradition, in which We extend warmest of well wishes and greetings to you, Our Most Loyal Subjects, Our Beloved Citizens, O' ye the divinely appointed tributaries flooding the lake of prosperity manifested as Our thriving metropolis,

Closer?

Our thriving metropolis

metropolis

METROPOLIS

*cue X-Files theme*

[Dani Helios]

^ this guy gets it.

[TL]

Hmm.

I'm going to wait and see how the actual music turns out, but this latest update really isn't inspiring confidence. It just seems so incredibly cheesy, and not in a good way.
Pretty much everything about this so far just seems very "not for me".

I wonder if Lord Nefaryus is going to team up with Emperor Imabadguy and King Villun.

[Vandalism]

I think somewhere in the middle of the story the NOMACs will be self aware and both the factions will be screwed. The exact moment will be represented by a sudden crazy polyrhythmic part where mangini's all limbs will be playing in sync with one band member each! 

[MirrorMask]

Maybe Nomac will be the title of the mandatory instrumental song 

[ErHaO]

I wish they would record it here in Milan, at the Arcimboldi theatre.

Amsterdam is not too shabby either. Not asking for a DVD here, but I am looking forward to seeing a DT show there (I hope I am able to get tickets!).



Fits their Great Empire stuff, heh.

[Train of Naught]

Wow, I've never been inside of the Carré building, it looks amazing, might actually get tickets, it seems like it would be worth it.

[CDrice]

It definitely looks astonishing!

[Train of Naught]

It definitely looks astonishing!

Today I lost my faith in your ability to come up with good jokes.

[Dani Helios]

It definitely looks astonishing!

Today I lost my faith in your ability to come up with good jokes.

[CDrice]

It definitely looks astonishing!

Today I lost my faith in your ability to come up with good jokes.

I'm astonished it took you that long...

Sorry, I'll go in a corner and feel bad about myself now   

[Evermind]

I wish they would record it here in Milan, at the Arcimboldi theatre.

Amsterdam is not too shabby either. Not asking for a DVD here, but I am looking forward to seeing a DT show there (I hope I am able to get tickets!).



Fits their Great Empire stuff, heh.

Screw you Netherlands guys.

[nestcmartin]

So, what if...?

[Stadler]

^^^ This right there is why I love DT.    That makes no sense whatsoever, and yet, I'm fully convinced.   I'm in. 

[MirrorMask]

I don't get the expectations, may them be serious or not, about a Metropolis pt. 3 thing.

Let me preface by saying that I think Metropolis pt.1 is a wonderful song, one of the best ever created in the genre, and that I would be OK to hear it ad each and every DT show I will attend from here 'til the end of their carreer, and that I consider Scenes from a Memory one of the best albums of all time and anyone who wouldn't rate it 10/10 while enjoying every second of that album a sorrowful creature who lives an existance without musical joy, but, let's look deeper at the two things.

I believe it's still written at MP's FAQ page on his site that they were "only half joking" when they added the pt. 1 tag to Metropolis, and that only later they realized that fans would want to hear a part 2. The lyrics, come on, are gibberish - wonderful gibberish, I love them! they're poetic, they're evocative, they're in the same style as Under a Glass Moon in a sense, and I'd take an album full of lyrics like that over No one dared to speak of the terrible danger stuff any day... but still, it's some random stuff about a metropolis and whatever.

And as for pt. 2, Scenes from a Memory... watch the Dead Again movie and tell me it does not look familiar. Familiar as in you're half an hour into the movie and you already figured out the final twist because DT basically copied it. They did a great job of making a story out of it connected to the themes of pt. 1, and "Victoria watches and thoughtfully smiles" gives me chills every time, but the story is the Dead Again one applied to the ideas they had in mind.

So, in the end, the whole "saga" is made up of a song meant to stand alone with no deeper meaning (At least DT admitted it, unlike George Lucas), and their own version of a movie, and every character died in TWO chronologies, the only surviving one is the villain. The story is done and told and there wasn't even a story to begin with, going on with a part 3 would be doing it just because.

I'm all for these little nuggets and nods in the story, they knew that using the word "metropolis" in the Empire message would have reminded people of only one thing, but if a song shows up having the "Metropolis theme" or having the prefix "Metropolis pt. 3 - The Astonishing" or something, I would be let down.

[TAC]

^^^ This right there is why I love DT.    That makes no sense whatsoever, and yet, I'm fully convinced.   I'm in.

Yup. Totally!

[Progmetty]

I don't get the expectations, may them be serious or not, about a Metropolis pt. 3 thing.

Let me preface by saying that I think Metropolis pt.1 is a wonderful song, one of the best ever created in the genre, and that I would be OK to hear it ad each and every DT show I will attend from here 'til the end of their carreer, and that I consider Scenes from a Memory one of the best albums of all time and anyone who wouldn't rate it 10/10 while enjoying every second of that album a sorrowful creature who lives an existance without musical joy, but, let's look deeper at the two things.

I believe it's still written at MP's FAQ page on his site that they were "only half joking" when they added the pt. 1 tag to Metropolis, and that only later they realized that fans would want to hear a part 2. The lyrics, come on, are gibberish - wonderful gibberish, I love them! they're poetic, they're evocative, they're in the same style as Under a Glass Moon in a sense, and I'd take an album full of lyrics like that over No one dared to speak of the terrible danger stuff any day... but still, it's some random stuff about a metropolis and whatever.

And as for pt. 2, Scenes from a Memory... watch the Dead Again movie and tell me it does not look familiar. Familiar as in you're half an hour into the movie and you already figured out the final twist because DT basically copied it. They did a great job of making a story out of it connected to the themes of pt. 1, and "Victoria watches and thoughtfully smiles" gives me chills every time, but the story is the Dead Again one applied to the ideas they had in mind.

So, in the end, the whole "saga" is made up of a song meant to stand alone with no deeper meaning (At least DT admitted it, unlike George Lucas), and their own version of a movie, and every character died in TWO chronologies, the only surviving one is the villain. The story is done and told and there wasn't even a story to begin with, going on with a part 3 would be doing it just because.

I'm all for these little nuggets and nods in the story, they knew that using the word "metropolis" in the Empire message would have reminded people of only one thing, but if a song shows up having the "Metropolis theme" or having the prefix "Metropolis pt. 3 - The Astonishing" or something, I would be let down.

Your post kinda reminded me of way back when I first joined DTF and I was trying to have a discussion in hopes to understand how the story of SFAM connects to Metropolis Pt.1 but it always ended up turning into a joke thread so with time I figured there really is no serious explanation and little coherence in the plot between the song and the album 

[CoT67]

I don't get the expectations, may them be serious or not, about a Metropolis pt. 3 thing.

Let me preface by saying that I think Metropolis pt.1 is a wonderful song, one of the best ever created in the genre, and that I would be OK to hear it ad each and every DT show I will attend from here 'til the end of their carreer, and that I consider Scenes from a Memory one of the best albums of all time and anyone who wouldn't rate it 10/10 while enjoying every second of that album a sorrowful creature who lives an existance without musical joy, but, let's look deeper at the two things.

I believe it's still written at MP's FAQ page on his site that they were "only half joking" when they added the pt. 1 tag to Metropolis, and that only later they realized that fans would want to hear a part 2. The lyrics, come on, are gibberish - wonderful gibberish, I love them! they're poetic, they're evocative, they're in the same style as Under a Glass Moon in a sense, and I'd take an album full of lyrics like that over No one dared to speak of the terrible danger stuff any day... but still, it's some random stuff about a metropolis and whatever.

And as for pt. 2, Scenes from a Memory... watch the Dead Again movie and tell me it does not look familiar. Familiar as in you're half an hour into the movie and you already figured out the final twist because DT basically copied it. They did a great job of making a story out of it connected to the themes of pt. 1, and "Victoria watches and thoughtfully smiles" gives me chills every time, but the story is the Dead Again one applied to the ideas they had in mind.

So, in the end, the whole "saga" is made up of a song meant to stand alone with no deeper meaning (At least DT admitted it, unlike George Lucas), and their own version of a movie, and every character died in TWO chronologies, the only surviving one is the villain. The story is done and told and there wasn't even a story to begin with, going on with a part 3 would be doing it just because.

I'm all for these little nuggets and nods in the story, they knew that using the word "metropolis" in the Empire message would have reminded people of only one thing, but if a song shows up having the "Metropolis theme" or having the prefix "Metropolis pt. 3 - The Astonishing" or something, I would be let down.

I agree with everything you've said. Seems like the only reason DT would bring up Metropolis part 3 would be, from a commercial point of view, to try to appease old fans. I'm happy enough with the nuggets here and there, no reason to turn this into some sort of weird sequel.

[MirrorMask]

Your post kinda reminded me of way back when I first joined DTF and I was trying to have a discussion in hopes to understand how the story of SFAM connects to Metropolis Pt.1 but it always ended up turning into a joke thread so with time I figured there really is no serious explanation and little coherence in the plot between the song and the album 

Metropolis pt. 1 is generic enough to have multiple interrpretations, and they dd not go overboard with linking the song and the album. Metropolis pt. 1 talks of three eternal dances, death, deceit and love, and SFAM is a story of death, deceit and love among other things. They got the title obviously from "Somewhere like a scene from a memory", they nodded the ending with Victoria watches and thoughtfully smiles, and they reused the "I was told there's a new love that's born" thing for Edward boning Victoria, but that was it, they didn't try to shoehorn in every line of the song, that's where the lack of connection would have been evident.

They did a good job with it, and the plot of SFAM is well done as well and the two plot twists are both great, took me a while to figure it out in the beginning. Too bad that once you watch the Dead Again movie you go "oh shit this is where they got it from" 

Anyway, the album is so wonderfully gorgeous that I forgive them everything. Same with the new album, if the story will be cheesy I won't mind if we'll have a wonderful album to listen to 

[Progmetty]

I agree both the the song and the album are amazing, how does Edward being a senator fit in the story? if it does at all.

[MirrorMask]

Actually I find the reason behind the nicknames the weakest part of the whole plot... Edward is a man of success and achieved everything, including becoming a senator, so he's the Miracle, Julian is a drunk bum who does not fulfill his true potential so he's the Sleeper. Ok, sounds fine, but... it's the only moment when I feel that they were forced to connect somehow with the lyrics of the original song.

Plot-wise, maybe his influence as a senator is used to cover up the double murder, Julian was shot twice when he was meant, as in the "newspaper article" of Beyond this Life, to have killed himself after having shot Victoria. Kinda hard to shoot yourself twice.

[wolfking]

What if...

CD 1: The Great Northern Empire
CD 2: The Ravenskill Rebel Militia

This was my first thought, but since they are performing the whole thing live, probably not the case.  I don't think it's been long enough between albums to warrant that much material either.

[commanderbob]

Am I the only one who is wondering if DT has been hanging out with Arjen Lucassen or Devin Townsend a whole bunch lately?

[CDrice]

Am I the only one who is wondering if DT has been hanging out with Arjen Lucassen or Devin Townsend a whole bunch lately?

Well there recently was the Theater Equation in which James played, but I'm guessing the album's concept probably predates that.