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"“Parasomnia”, which marks Mike Portnoy's return to Dream Theater after a thirteen-year absence, is a very solid album, although it doesn't quite live up to the hype."
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4/5
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On October 25, 2023, the announcement of Mike Portnoy's return to Dream Theater was a bombshell for long-time fans. Almost as much as his departure in 2010. The band's core founding members were back together, much to the delight of those nostalgic for the most creative period in the history of prog metal. The thirteen years that Mike Mangini spent behind the drums barely existed in the media. There's no need to go into details that are beyond us (notably the contractual links he may have had with the band), but, seen from the outside, his ousting still seemed very expeditious in view of the service he rendered. Especially for a drummer who, like it or not, is technically much better than Portnoy, as demonstrated by his imperial performance on “A View From The Top Of The World”. Be that as it may, the prodigal son's return to the fold was practically celebrated as a reformation, and since then, events have followed one another at breakneck speed: a world tour to celebrate the band's 40th anniversary and the release of “Parasomnia”, the first album with Mike Portnoy since the excellent “Black Clouds & Silver Linings”. So the real question is whether this new album really lives up to expectations... expectations fuelled by a perfectly mastered art of teasing. The answer is: not really.
One thing's for sure: after Mike Portnoy's departure, John Petrucci became Dream Theater's undisputed boss. He reigned supreme over the band's compositions and artistic choices throughout the Mangini period, and it seems that the reconciliation with Portnoy was made on condition that his leadership was not called into question, at least for the time being... The result is that “Parasomnia” is a very metal-oriented but also very classic Dream Theater album which, as usual, contains moments of grace that only musicians of this calibre can offer, but which also seems to have been composed a little too quickly. Here again, there's no need to speculate as to the reasons for this, apart from the legitimate emulation of Portnoy's return.
The main interest of “Parasomnia” is that it is a thematic album, allowing the band to have a field day with the repetition of melodic lines from one track to the next, in the purest tradition of progressive metal. All the more so as the subject matter, in this case sleep disorders, lends itself particularly well to this. From the instrumental 'In The Arms Of Morpheus', evoking the phase of falling asleep, to the thunderous “Wake Up!” which closes the excellent epic 'The Shadow Man Incident', the album forms a very coherent whole and plunges us into the midst of particularly chaotic and dark nights, characterized by incendiary and clearly thrash riffs, recalling more than once the “Train Of Thought” period ('Midnight Messiah').
But despite a strong concept and a musical talent that obviously suffers no reproach, many of the compositions are predictable ('Night Terror', 'Dead Asleep', 'Midnight Messiah'), or lack a little inspiration. This is particularly true of 'A Broken Man', despite a magnificent solo with subtle blues and jazz influences from John Petrucci. In fact, it's Petrucci who comes off best in terms of creativity, particularly in his work on guitar sound. In this respect, the beautiful crunch sound of the magnificent “Bend The Clock” makes it undoubtedly one of the Americans' most beautiful ballads in a very long time.
“Parasomnia” is a solid album that's a pleasure to listen to, but doesn't take the slightest risk. Dream Theater does Dream Theater and, for his comeback, Mike Portnoy does Mike Portnoy... nothing more, nothing less. The real question is: can we ask more of them? Given the expectations created by perfectly orchestrated communication, no doubt. But objectively, this is not certain, as these exceptional musicians seem to have already said it all. If the aim of “Parasomnia” is to reassure fans and please them, the album more than does the job in terms of savoir-faire. But it also clearly raises the question of what to do next. Should we really resign ourselves to seeing this extraordinary band tread water and capitalize on its achievements? Only time will tell... - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. In The Arms Of Morpheus (5:22) 02. Night Terror (9:55) 03. A Broken Man (8:30) 04. Dead Asleep (11:06) 05. Midnight Messiah (7:58) 06. Are We Dreaming? (1:28) 07. Bend The Clock (7:24) 08. The Shadow Man Incident (19:32)
LINEUP:
James Labrie: Chant John Myung: Basse John Petrucci: Guitares Jordan Rudess: Claviers Mike Portnoy: Batterie
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(0) MIND(S) FROM OUR READERS
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Top of the page
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(5) COMMENT(S)
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READERS
3.7/5 (11 view(s))
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STAFF:
3.8/5 (6 view(s))
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IN RELATION WITH DREAM THEATER
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LAST INTERVIEW
DREAM THEATER ( FEBRUARY 2019)
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For the release of "Wired Of Madness", Jordan Rudess' new album, the keyboard player talked with Music Waves about "Distance Over Time" by Dream Theater
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OTHER REVIEWS
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OTHER(S) REVIEWS ABOUT DREAM THEATER
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