To me, this is an album reminiscent of DT12, though considerably better and with a much better mix. I've taken a good 4 listens to the album, and here are my thoughts. Apologies for the length of this post.
The Good
This may be their best sounding album, mix-wise, in the MM era. DT12 sounded too filtered (sounded like they cut too much off the high end) and mid-heavy, and was the infamous "triggered drums" era of Mangini. Mangini's snare also sounded very dark and boomy.
Everything on DoT sounds brighter, and Myung's bass seems to have more bottom end. The cymbals are nice and bright, and everything seems panned nicely. JP's tone also sounds even more fantastic than usual. Not only the leads, but the rhythm sections as well.
Did I mention this is THE best Mangini? Not only the sound of his drums, but what he’s playing. I feel like he has finally come out of his shell and has fully arrived with a vengeance. Outstanding!
The only thing I don't really like is that they seem to be using a de-esser for James, and the frequency they are compressing makes his "S sounds" sound weird at times. Extremely small gripe though.
I also appreciate that there are a lot of heavy sections on this album. The 3 "singles" all contain some killer riffs, and Room 137 and Pale Blue Dot are also nice and heavy.
My favorite tracks have got to be Fall Into The Light, S2N, Barstool Warrior and Pale Blue Dot.
Barstool Warrior is awesome. I didn't think I'd like this one based on the title, but it's a beautiful song. Petrucci sounds absolutely fantastic on this song. I also really love the verses, and of course the chorus.
S2N really surprised me. When I heard the sampler, I wasn't in love with the chorus. But in the context of the song, it's definitely become my favorite chorus on the album. Also, that riff at the end of the song is awesome! Reminds me very much of the ending to TDEN - how everything just breaks down as a brand new riff is introduced to close out the song, giving JR free roam to work his magic all over the track.
Another standout part of the album is that riff in Pale Blue Dot around 1:50. It has a sort of menacing sound, and it fits nicely with the chaos of the universe. This song in general reminds me a lot of Avenged Sevenfold's "Exist", in that both tracks are album closers about the universe, and both having speech samples from known astronomers in their intros, before breaking into some chaotic riffs. Really love JP's ending solo too. Those trills give the most accurate musical representation of the "unknown" reaches of space I've heard.
At Wit's End is also good, but not quite as good as I'd hoped based on reviews. It seemed to be one of the early standouts, but again, it sounds very DT12-esque to me so this lowered my enjoyment. I do think this track has the potential to be a grower though. I really wished it'd have been a proper 9 minutes though, as the last 2 minutes are basically just the fade out/in.
Paralyzed is a tough one. I think I like it now, but I hated it when they first released it. The intro really reminds me of Disturbed (who I hate), but Labrie's excellent vocal melodies are really starting to grow on me.
Finally, I like that there is only one ballad on this album. ADToE had 3 ballads. Beneath The Surface is one of my favorite DT ballads, but if Far From Heaven was replaced by one more killer song, I feel like ADToE would be among my fav DT albums ever.
The Not As Good
My biggest fear is how well it will age. DT12 aged terribly for me, and though I like DoT better at this point, I'm not sure if I will still be listening in the years to come. Out of every band I've ever known, DT holds the crown for having the best replay value through the last 20+ years I've listened to them. I still get goosebumps when listening to songs like SDoIT, Octavarium, ACoS...hell - pretty much 90%of their stuff.
But this album, while great, doesn't quite seem to have all of the intricacies that are responsible for that replay value. Maybe it's my own fault for listening to so much DT in the past that almost nothing they do can seem fresh. But there is just something about this album that doesn't have me listening constantly like I did when their other albums first came out.
As a small example, Petrucci's solo in Barstool Warrior sounds very similar to his melodic lead sections in Surrender To Reason or The Bigger Picture. Not particularly a bad thing, as those were my favorite parts from those songs. But if this was the first time I'd heard such a solo, I would be absolutely in love with it.
I'm really not a fan of Room 137. The riffs are awesome, but the vocal melodies just don't do it for me. I always like to think that songs are growers, but I honestly just don't see myself ever liking this song.
I'm also not really feeling Out of Reach. I appreciate that they put one ballad on the album, and it's not a bad song by any means. But it will definitely get lost in a sea of other DT songs I'd rather listen to.
So overall, there are only 2 songs I actively dislike. This is not bad, as it's par for the course with every DT album after ToT (aside from BC&SL, on which I liked every song - though there were only 6 total). On DT12, there were 4 songs I disliked (FAS, TEM, TLG, and AFtR), which is almost half of the album.
The album honestly isn't blowing me away so far, but it's still early and it could end up as my second favorite MM-era album.
Early Rating
It may be too early to rate, as I've only listened to the album around 4 times. But I'd give it a 7.5
And for good measure, here are my ratings of all past full-length LaBrie-era DT albums:
I&W: 10
Awake: 7
FII: 6.9
SFaM: 10
SDoIT: 10
ToT: 10
O8V: 8
SC: 8.2
BC&SL: 8.6
ADToE: 9
DT12: 6.5
TA: 7.5
DoT: 7.5
Topic: Official Distance Over Time discussion thread (Read 188148 times)
