This is a site that shares plenty of progressive music, among other genres, so I doubt I need to introduce Dream Theater. Would we even have progressive metal today without them? I doubt I need to tell you that Mike Portnoy is back on drums, along with his old friends James LaBrie on vocals, John Petrucci on guitars, Jordan Rudess on keys, and John Myung on bass. Their new album Parasomnia released back on February 7th through Inside Out Music.
I probably don’t even need to tell you what this sounds like. It’s a Dream Theater album, complete with technical fireworks on all the typical instruments and caterwauling goodness from LaBrie. Mike plays the same damn rolling fills he has since the 80s, and, well, he’s good at them. Petrucci tries to allow a little more space this time, and he tries a few more modern riffs, but overall his work is pretty typical and very good. Rudess is great on keys, though maybe not as present as on past albums, and you still can’t hear Myung’s bass in the mix very well. I’m sure it’s great.
Look, Parasomnia is one of those divisive records; jaded listeners will unfairly malign it, and diehard fans will unreasonably hype it. The album isn’t one of their greatest, but it also isn’t one of their worst. This is a solid, safe release from the legendary band, and I honestly find it quite listenable, maybe more listenable than anything they’ve done in a while.
See, I’m one of those annoying pricks who hasn’t really liked much from Dream Theater since 1994’s Awake, and we like to bloviate about missing Kevin Moore and all that nonsense. But I’ve always kept up with them, and I’ve liked a song here and there through the years. I even recently managed to listen through Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes from a Memory and actually sort of enjoyed it for the first time (I’ve tried many times). All of this is to say one thing: my opinion doesn’t matter whatsoever when it comes to new DT albums.
But if, for some reason, you still want my opinion, I’ll just say this: temper your expectations. Parasomnia has some great moments, but it also has a boatload of Dream Theater-isms that we’ve all heard a thousand times. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, though. I mean, what do the fans expect? The only time the band tried something new in the last decade was 2016’s The Astonishing, and you all hated on them for that one (I actually liked parts of it), so why would the band ever try something new? They probably saw Porcupine Tree’s highly successful reunion (financially) and decided to drag Mike back. Or maybe Mike was hurting and begged. Who really cares? It’s the same stuff we’ve all heard, and that might be okay at this point.
I’ll say that the dreamy concept behind the album is pretty neat, though it feels similar to both Metropolis Pt. 2 and Haken’s Visions—an album no doubt influenced by DT anyways. It does lead to some darker moments that I happen to like, more shadow and texture than maybe DT usually grants us.
There’s some good stuff here. I rather like the opening instrumental track “In the Arms of Morpheus”, which has some cinematic vibes and lots of Mike Portnoy, almost like they’re saying “Here he is, folks!” I like “Night Terror”, which is sort of catchy and has a cool main riff. I especially like “Dead Asleep”, possibly my favorite, which is an eleven-minute piece with plenty of space and sweeping transitions; it feels like an epic, but a dark and concise one.
The last couple tracks are also pretty good. “Bend the Clock” has perhaps the most heart of all the songs here; Petrucci seems to evoke some soulfulness, and the track seems to flirt with both power and ballad. I like it. The twenty-minute closer “The Shadow Man Incident” honestly doesn’t feel that long; it is suitably epic in all the familiar DT ways, but it still garners some emotional response, I think. I enjoy it.
Dream Theater are way past needing to pioneer the genre; they’ve been there and done that. I might not care for most of their recent work, but I’d never say it’s bad or terrible. No, it’s just Dream Theater, and if I’m in that mood, which is rare, then Parasomnia will do just fine. Fanboys will say it’s the best album of the year, which it certainly isn’t, and haters will say it’s the worst of the year, but don’t let that scare you.
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