Dream Theater announces 16th Studio Album - Parasomnia

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Thanks for the great review, Kyo!

[emtee]

Alright, the free local magazine for which I wrote my Parasomnia review is now out, so I'll just post it here alongside a quick English translation. As I've said, I've had the album since early December, so this is based on quite a few complete playthroughs:


Ende Oktober '23 kam aus heiterem Himmel die Nachricht, dass Mike Portnoy ab sofort wieder bei Dream Theater trommelt. Nun liegt das erste Album der wiedervereinigten ,,klassischen" Besetzung vor und bietet im Großen und Ganzen gewohnte Kost. Fans von Train of Thought dürfte freuen, dass die Riffs diesmal klar dominieren: Ob die Ouvertüre (mit dem Tiefton-Bonus einer achtsaitigen Gitarre), die einige Themen der späteren Songs einführt, oder die vier folgenden Songs, hier gibt's mächtig was auf die Zwölf. Der Opener Night Terror geht fast vier Minuten lang in 4/4 voll nach vorne, bietet nach hinten hin aber einige nette rhythmische Spielereien und Wendungen. A Broken Man erinnert anfangs an Opeth, gestaltet sich aber ziemlich unvorhersehbar und dabei etwas sperrig. Dead Asleep bietet nach atmosphärischem Beginn ein Riffgewitter vom Feinsten, verliert nach hinten hin aber ein wenig den Fokus. Und Midnight Messiah tönt teilweise unverblümt nach Metallica, um dann im Refrain sogar Anleihen an Judas Priest erkennen zu lassen. Wie in alten Portnoy-Zeiten verfranst sich die Band in den im Schnitt ca. 10-minütigen Songs nach hinten hin in Instrumental-Abschnitten, die mit den für Jordan Rudess typischen Bläser-Sounds und quietschigen Synthi-Solos mehr nach dem Nebenprojekt Liquid Tension Experiment klingen und nicht immer so recht zum düsteren, stimmungsvollen Rest der Songs passen wollen. Aber meist kriegt die Band grade noch so die Kurve.

Erst nach knapp 'ner Dreiviertelstunde gibt's mit der gelungenen Powerballade Bend the Clock eine längere Verschnaufpause, die den stärksten Abschnitt des Albums einläutet. Speziell das ungewohnt melodische 2,5-Minuten-Schlusssolo von John Petrucci ist hier ein absolutes Highlight. Der abschließende Longtrack The Shadow Man Incident ist zwar ebenso heavy wie die Eröffnung, aber auch episch, atmosphärisch und mit einigen der besten Hooklines gesegnet. Im Mittelteil gibt's auch hier einen längeren Instrumental-Ausflug, der an LTE erinnert, aber besonders das ausladende Klaviersolo von Jordan Rudess ist ein echtes Highlight und verglichen mit seinen zunehmend austauschbaren Synthi-Solos ungewohnt gehaltvoll und inspiriert geraten. Ein eindrucksvolles Finale für ein insgesamt wirklich gutes Album, das durch einen losen textlichen Rahmen (,,Schlafstörungen", wie der Titel schon sagt) und ein paar wiederholt aufgegriffene musikalische Themen eine stimmige Einheit ergibt. Die angekündigte Komplett-Aufführung auf der '25er-Tour dürfte jedenfalls sehr spaßig werden – am 12. Juli kommen die Jungs nach Nürnberg!

Wertung: 8 von 9

--

At the end of October '23, the news came out of the blue that Mike Portnoy would once again be drumming for Dream Theater. The first album by the reunited "classic" line-up is now available and, on the whole, offers familiar fare. Fans of Train of Thought will be pleased that the riffs clearly dominate this time: Whether it's the overture (with the low-frequency bonus of an eight-string guitar), which introduces some of the themes of the later songs, or the four songs that follow, this is quite an assault. The opener Night Terror goes full speed ahead in 4/4 for almost four minutes, but offers some nice rhythmic gimmicks and twists towards the end. A Broken Man is initially reminiscent of Opeth, but is quite unpredictable and somewhat hard to grasp. After an atmospheric start, Dead Asleep offers a riff storm of the finest quality, but loses its focus a little towards the end. And Midnight Messiah sounds bluntly like Metallica at times and is then even reminiscent of Judas Priest in the chorus. As in old Portnoy times, the band gets bogged down in instrumental sections towards the end of the (on average) 10-minute songs that sound more like the side project Liquid Tension Experiment with the typical Jordan Rudess brass sounds and squeaky synth solos that don't always really fit in with the dark, atmospheric rest of the songs. But most of the time the band just about manages to get back on track.

Only after almost 45 minutes is there a longer breather with the successful power ballad Bend the Clock, which ushers in the strongest section of the album. Especially the unusually melodic 2.5-minute closing solo by John Petrucci is an absolute highlight here. The closing extended piece The Shadow Man Incident is just as heavy as the opening, but also epic, atmospheric and blessed with some of the best hooklines. In the middle section there is also a longer instrumental excursion that is reminiscent of LTE, but the expansive piano solo by Jordan Rudess is a real highlight and, compared to his increasingly interchangeable synth solos, unusually substantial and inspired. An impressive finale for a really good album overall, which feels like a coherent unit thanks to a loose lyrical framework ("sleep disorders", as the title suggests) and a few repeated musical themes. The announced complete performance on the '25 tour should be a lot of fun - the guys are coming to Nuremberg on July 12!

Score: 8 out of 9

Nice. Thanks.

[jayvee3]

Midnight Messiah looks like it just released on Apple Music... said I won't listen, but by now, I should know to just not bother making these statements haha 

Easily my favourite of the singles, love the vibe - it's metal, but feels fresh, and some veeeery interesting lyric nuggets... Like it a lot 

[jadiggerdt]

https://www.betreutesproggen.de/2025/01/dream-theater-parasomnia/
New out

[Nissim]

Midnight Messiah looks like it just released on Apple Music... said I won't listen, but by now, I should know to just not bother making these statements haha 

Easily my favourite of the singles, love the vibe - it's metal, but feels fresh, and some veeeery interesting lyric nuggets... Like it a lot 

Honestly, it's the single I feel like replaying More, It's like:

1. MM
2. NT
3. ABM
Something inside of me still thinks NT Is kinda better, but tbh all flow extremely fast for their runtime, wich Is great compared to songs like A rite of passage, cool riffs, but oh my god could It be shorter. I don't know If parasomnia can top BC&SL, but It has some good potential so far.

[emtee]

I will wait until something is on their official site or official YouTube channel.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Hmmm, I have Apple Music but still not available for me.

[Zydar]

It's not on Tidal yet either. 

[gborland]

Listening now on Spotify.

[jayvee3]

Hmmm, I have Apple Music but still not available for me.

Not sure how it all works, but I'm in Australia, so perhaps a time zone thing...

[Dedalus]

YouTube

[gzarruk]

This is my favorite of the singles so far

Also: Strange Deja Vu, Constant Motion, Home, This Dying Soul... did I miss more?

[doctormeat]

Thought there was going to be a music video for this one?

[RoeDent]

It'll probably drop on thursday or friday

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

If it's already available on Spotify which I don't have why would it not drop for another day or two?

[Dedalus]

Along with MM, a Radio Edit version also appeared on the official YouTube channel, as well as tracks from Night Terror and A Broken Man. These two bizarrely appear with the cover of the single Midnight Messiah.

All: Provided to YouTube by InsideOutMusic

[gzarruk]

If it's already available on Spotify which I don't have why would it not drop for another day or two?

The YouTube link Dedalus shared works fine for just the audio

Along with MM, a Radio Edit version also appeared on the official YouTube channel, as well as tracks from Night Terror and A Broken Man. These two bizarrely appear with the cover of the single Midnight Messiah.

All: Provided to YouTube by InsideOutMusic

That's just the way Spotify/streaming services group singles from the same upcoming album, they get re-released every time there's a new one like it's a sort of EP.

[WilliamMunny]

Man, this band really does love the 2-minute intro...

James sounds great here...definitely my favorite of the three singles.

[rab7]

These two bizarrely appear with the cover of the single Midnight Messiah.

All: Provided to YouTube by InsideOutMusic

They also did that with A Broken Man on Spotify. The "single" includes Night Terror, where Night Terror has the A Broken Man artwork

[Dedalus]

That's just the way Spotify/streaming services group singles from the same upcoming album, they get re-released every time there's a new one like it's a sort of EP.

I had never noticed that before. 

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

It's here! Official video on YT.

Enjoy all.

[Nissim]

3:29, that's a canadian rap reference, omfg DOWNTOWN AAAAAA I'M GOING INSANE.

Also, this Is gonna be a fun live song.

[gzarruk]

I had never noticed that before. 

Dean from Teramaze was complaining about the same thing with his own releases the other day

[Polarbear]

I'm glad MP is contributing to lyrics once again! Clever use of easter eggs here!

Song itself is alright! Nice to have a solid uptempo rocker here as well.

[genome]

I'd say that's the single that has grabbed me most on first listen out of the 3. I really enjoyed it.

[SeRoX]

Favourite single so far. 

[cramx3]

The best of the 3 singles so far IMO

[Bacong]

good stuff!

[DreamerTV]

Very fun one
So far the only meh song for me is night terror
Could have been worse though, like A Rite of Passage

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Fun metal song. Good riffs though the verse is a little too close to As I Am for comfort. Even the vocal melody is reminiscent of that song. Might even be in the same key.

I'm not a fan of the fan service nuggets. Better than Night Terror but I might favor A Broken Man which is less backward looking and thus a little more fresh.

[lightbug]

I could never become an album reviewer, for a couple of reasons - the main one is because I always have a hard time describing in words why I like a particular song, or music in general. Music does something to me that I can't express in words. The second one is I need many, many listens and being able to "sit" with the album for a long while before I can fairly judge it.

So being able to reviews an album before it comes out would definitely not work for me Kudos to those who can though, really.

Based on 90% of the review I've read so far, anyone can become a reviewer.

I mean ... "The heavily pounding Midnight Messiah has a hypnotic effect. It's like being caught in a spider web of dreams" ... Really?

[cramx3]

Better than Night Terror but I might favor A Broken Man which is less backward looking and thus a little more fresh.

A broken Man has grown on me lately and I think it's for that reason.  Night Terror is a fine song, but it's very much DT doing their very typical style of song. A Broken Man didn't hit me so hard on first listen or two, and I may have gotten a bit more turned off by the AI in the video/art, but the song itself definitely sounds more fresh and the instrumental section is very fun.

Midnight Messiah also sounds like a very familiar DT, but for me, it feels executed better than NIght Terror.  It's more fun and interesting.  The unison solo is awesome.  It's got a catchiness to the chorus.  The nuggets are enjoyable too. 

Also, nice to see some footage from the Euro tour. I'd take this type of video any day over the AI animations.

[MirrorMask]

Also, nice to see some footage from the Euro tour. I'd take this type of video any day over the AI animations.

Absolutely!!!

[Logain Ablar]

Very good! Definitely my favourite of the 3 singles.

It's a lot of fun and grabs you from the first listen.

Great solo and tapping/unison section. I like the rhythmic shifts as well - just when you think you've got the groove, it gets changed up and keeps you on your toes.

[Northern Lion]

Man, I'm looking forward to this album.  Three banger singles and I'm ready!