Inside Out Music/Sony Music
Release: 7 February 2025
Genre: Progressive Metal
Links: https://dreamtheater.net/
Line Up:
James LaBrie – Vocals
John Petrucci – Guitar
John Myung – Bass
Jordan Rudess – Keyboards
Mike Portnoy – Drums
Tracklist:
In The Arms Of Morpheus
Night Terror
A Broken Man
Dead Asleep
Midnight Messiah
Are We Dreaming?
Bend The Clock
The Shadow Man Incident
Now I’ve never been much of a doubting Thomas, but when drummer Mike Portnoy left the band over a decade ago, you probably felt like I did: “How was Dream Theater going to carry on without him?” A new debate erupted when drummer Mike Mangini was introduced to the band, met with a collective gasp from DT fans everywhere. Some of us refused to ever be open again to listen to another Dream Theater album. Spoiler alert, none of the drama stopped Dream Theater. Several solid albums and a Grammy later, it finally felt like Dream Theater was getting the recognition it deserved. In a dramatic turn of events, Dream Theater and Portnoy announced in 2023 that they were reuniting and Mangini was asked to leave the band. This album is their coming home party.
Over the last few years, I honestly really didn’t pick up much of what Dream Theater was putting out, but I felt something calling me back home. I wanted to relive that feeling I had when I was a proud teenager rocking Dream Theater shirts trying to red pill my punk, emo, and nu-metal friends into checking this band out. Dream Theater, we often say, is a band for musicians, and some of us are prideful of that fact. For us, when we bought a DT album, we knew we had a complex work of art in our hands, a band that is synonymous as the genre leader of progressive metal. These guys were influenced by beloved bands like Rush and Pink Floyd, and I believe they took it into the 21st century. Now they come back with an album about all kinds of dreams. Let’s break it down track by track because there is a lot to cover.
“In the Arms of Morpheus”
It starts off with the blaring of sirens, traffic sounds, the closing of a window, the squeaking chair, a dripping faucet, and a man falling asleep. I can say with accuracy that this sequence simulates what happens halfway through one of my Netflix binge sessions. We are then introduced to beautifully clean guitar arpeggios, playing melodically and soothingly putting us into a dream state—no hypnotist required this time!
Just when you think you are free to doze off, BAM! We get an incredibly chunky and heavy guitar and bass section infused with a doomsday alarm clock. Soaring over that, we get super-spooky choir synths and inhuman drum fills all over the place by Portnoy. It’s as if Petrucci is saying, “Yeah, we’ve been heavy before, but now we’re REALLY heavy.” With JP now playing and integrating an 8-string guitar, you are going to hear new heavy lows from these guys you never heard before. Around 3:00, we get two of the best solos dueling back to back, a synth keyboard solo from Rudess that sounds lovingly right out of “name your favorite Nintendo game” soundtrack, and then Petrucci rocketing us to pure guitar heaven with an angelic smooth, and vintage-sounding DT solo. I read from an interview of Petrucci that he used his old Neve preamps back from the “Scenes from a Memory” days—you can tell! Loving the retro vibe here.
“Night Terror”
Dream Theater live at The Opry House, Nashville, TN on February 10th, 2025
By now, most if not all Dream Theater fans have heard and seen their first single “Night Terror.” It’s fast, it’s hard, it’s dramatic, it’s rhythmic, and it’s got a great and memorable chorus. Clocking in at nearly 10 minutes, it’s got a good balance of vocals and instrumental pieces while still keeping the solid chorus fresh. LaBrie sounds fierce and melodic, delivering lines like “Sacrificial martyr, Victim dressed in white…” with the kind of passion that makes you believe that this band is excited to be back together again. This is probably my favorite song to drive to as it just checks all the boxes of a great melodic metal prog piece.
“A Broken Man”
This song is chaotic, to say the least. It’s about someone suffering from PTSD from war and dreaming about it. Given the sensitive subject matter of this song, I think it fits the lyrics that accompany it. It’s got great multi-solos by Rudess ranging from synth to organ and other neat keyboard effects. Petrucci throws in a groovy blues solo to keep things interesting and break up the tension. And I’ve got to give Portnoy credit: he’s absolutely killing it on the drums here. This will be a great addition to the library of DT’s heaviest songs.
“Dead Asleep”
I really enjoyed the introduction to this track; the song opens with samples mixed in with some incredible violin pieces. The main riff by Petrucci is easily one of the best ones on the entire album. It just sounds pure evil and menacing. One of my favorite moments is when Petrucci gives us a taste of a flanger effect over some riffing. It stands out and is fun to hear every time without being “Turbo Lover” corny. Petrucci then lays down the classic DT palm-muted riff to introduce LaBrie and open up his singing a few minutes into the track.
The chorus is memorable, and the song lyrically to me is very reminiscent of “Beyond This Life.” Here are some lyrics from the song: “Scrambling in the darkness, in fear for his life, Certain a killer broke in, He fumbles for a weapon, reaches for a knife, A sleepwalking murder begins.” I’ve read that it may be based off of a recent movie sharing the same title and similar story of a sleepwalking murder. Not confirmed but would be cool to know. We get some more heavy and melodic solos and some solid grooves from Petrucci. Rudess mostly stays in the background laying down atmospheric keys, organs, choirs in the background. He does have one short solo, but I felt like it was buried in the mix. It’s a minor complaint but I would have liked to hear it up front more, but then again, I like everything loud.
“Midnight Messiah”
Alright! We’ve got Mike Portnoy’s first lyric contribution to a song, and it’s a fast, fever-pitched race to the end. In the intro of the song, we get some clean guitars and a few samples from a movie called “Waking Life.” We then get some really interesting church choir sections, and then the song takes off into a groovy chunky melodic section that sets the stage for some more “Train of Thought” styled vocal delivery by LaBrie…chef’s kiss. I really enjoy the distortion they put on LaBrie’s voice in certain sections of the song. The lyrics feature many Dream Theater easter eggs, which are both fun and clever unlike my attempt at it in my introduction. Example: “Like an uncanny strange Déjà vu” and “Like a sword piercing this dying soul.” Oh, and did I mention that Petrucci basically does an Eddie Van Halen-level tapping solo tribute in it? This one is another one of my favorite tracks.
“Are We Dreaming”
Every prog metal album has to have interludes and small sections. It’s a stereotype we own and are okay with. This “song” has Rudess pulling out an actual Leslie organ for this one. While he plays some spooky tunes, we get some spoken dialogue of a woman asking if someone “still loves her,” asking them “not to leave” (Kind of sounds like a whiny ex I may have known!). It features some ghost-hunter-like reverse spoken words as well. So if you have the technology, you can hear what they are saying. I really do love the addition of interludes like this, and while I know many of us will skip this track more often than not, I think it’s important we slow down, turn it up, and enjoy the atmosphere and appreciate the effort that was put into creating it. This track totally sets the mood for the next track.
Dream Theater live at The Opry House, Nashville, TN on February 10th, 2025
“Bend the Clock”
I think more than any song, this one is the most spine-tingling goosebump-raising tune. For those of you who enjoy a more mellow rocking Dream Theater that is full of sonic goodness, this song has everything you want from a classic DT jam. It has smooth guitar solos, solid bass-lines, jazzy piano riffs, and LaBrie delivering vocals that are heartfelt and emotional. I think part of that is because LaBrie wrote the lyrics to this song and I think they came out as a good match for the music.
If you listen to one song more than once on this album, this is the one you have to hear at least ten times. It’s an emotional experience, and I have already seen the Dream Theater community respond emotionally the most to this song. I don’t think there is a greater compliment than a song you wrote impacting people’s lives. Quick sample of the lyrics: “The witching hour begins, Can’t escape, I find myself again, Prisoner in the end, Sinking further than I’ve ever been.” These poetic lyrics by LaBrie are definitely relatable to many of us who regularly have been face to face with depression.
Despite the lack of a happy-ending lyrically in the song, Petrucci’s solo on this song is one of his all-time greatest. The pulls, the bends, the sweeps, the jazzy distorted but clean sorrowful tones. His use of sustained notes, the space between them, and the notes themselves in his solo—if that makes sense—is incredible. This was giving me SDOIT, disc 2, “Goodnight Kiss” vibes, which I think is just pure cathartic. I think the greatest travesty of all is the way this song fades out in the middle of greatness. It’s my only critique, and I can’t wait to hear it live to get the full version.
“The Shadowman Incident”
Dream Theater live at The Opry House, Nashville, TN on February 10th, 2025
This nearly 20-minute behemoth is everything a Dream Theater fan loves. Epic solos, hard riffs, quiet melodic sections, blazing fast keyboard and guitar solos, LaBrie singing in top form. Around the 1:58 mark, there is a section that seemingly calls back to Metropolis Pt. I, which is very surprising and fun to hear. Around 8:52, LaBrie delivers some of his best vocals on the entire album. Instrumentally, I feel like the group was in complete overdrive from around 11:22 on. Rudess’s best and most melodic solo is on this track. We get some really creative instrument pieces as well as some jazzy piano sections. Around 14 minutes, Petrucci plays so fast here I’m fairly certain he turned on “world domination mode” on his guitar and plays a billion notes per second. I love it when he shreds like this! This song is the grand epic this album needed to take it from really good to great.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m really impressed with how Dream Theater has managed to evolve while staying true to their roots. After being a bit out of touch with their recent work, I found myself missing the days I was a teenager, proudly rocking my DT T-shirt, headphones on with music so loud everyone could hear it during lunch. The album strikes a balance between exploring heavier, more experimental territory while still keeping that classic Dream Theater magic. With Portnoy back in the fold, it’s clear the band is fired up about it creatively. They wanted to make that statement album, and I think they did. Sure, there are a few small gripes—some tracks feel a bit too long, and a few keyboard solos are buried in the mix, and some of the song lyrics didn’t do a lot for me as now a father of two young kids—but overall, this album is solid and I approve. While I know many of you are eager to place this in some tier list, slow down, let it grow on you for a few months before you start comparing it to an album you’ve listened to for thirty-plus years.
Dream Theater remains a dominant force in progressive metal, and this album proves they still have plenty left to give. It’s early in the year… but I think this will easily be a contender for best metal album of 2025. Everything Dream Theater set out to do, they accomplished, and the band is looking stronger than ever.
Special Guest Review by: Marc Centanni – Harpazo
Ratings: 9.5/10
Editors Pick 
https://open.spotify.com/album/0ER7sdwIe6mfM63TbWcHmd?si=361s_ybTRteyf9K8fm4Ohw
About Author
