Tough metal, vulnerable prog and virtuoso playing have been united for more than twenty-five years in the New York group Dream Theater. In recent years, however, it has been turbulent around these inventors of the prog metal, and that had everything to do with the controversial departure of drummer and co-founder Mike Portnoy in 2010. The twelfth album bears the name of the group itself, as if they
… want to indicate that Dream Theater is back to normal. The record then opens with a heroic classical piece that metal bands usually use to increase the tension during concerts before they emerge. After that, nothing more than an office day follows, but an inspired one. At Dream Theater, Dream Theater does what it does best, with a lot of dizzying riffs, screeching solos, complex rhythms and Wagnerian bombast. Not until the fifth song, the wide-legged ballad The Bigger Picture slows down somewhat. Dream Theater seems to want to consolidate its position at the top of the genre with this album and succeeds in that mission. (MR)more
