DT's songwriting has only gottenless technical and progressive over time. Less interesting, as a result.
I don't know about "less technical," but they're definitely not very progressive at this point. But they're hardly the only band in their genre which, ironically, is largely stagnant and safe.
"Progressive metal blends elements of heavy metal and progressive rock music, taking the loud "aggression", amplified electric guitar-driven sound of the former, with the more experimental, complex and "pseudo-classical" compositions of the latter. Progressive metal often utilises the conceptual
themes associated with progressive rock."
Progressive rock: "It developed from psychedelic rock and originated,
similarly to art rock, as an attempt to give greater artistic weight and credibility to rock music. Bands abandoned the short pop single in favor of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz or classical music in an effort to give rock music the same level of musical sophistication and critical respect. Songs were replaced by musical suites that often stretched to 20 or 40 minutes in length and contained
symphonic influences, extended musical themes, fantasy-like ambiance and lyrics, and complex orchestrations."
Art rock: "The concept of art rock has also sometimes been used to refer to the progressive rock bands which became popular in the 1970s. Allmusic states that "Progressive rock and art rock are two almost interchangeable terms describing a mostly British
attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility."
"Art rock was a form of music which wanted to "extend the limits of rock & roll", and opted for a more experimental and conceptual outlook on music."
Every word here still describes Dream Theater, and has ALWAYS described Dream Theater. They are still EXTREMELY progressive. I don't even know how you can say they aren't. Dream Theater is an art.