Sea of Tranquility reviews the brand new Dream Theater album Parasomnia!
Dream Theater is what happens when a group of virtuoso musicians decide that regular rock songs just aren’t complicated enough. Why play a simple four-minute track when you could write a 24-minute epic with seven tempo changes, three guitar solos, a keyboard duel, and a drum fill so intricate it could summon another dimension? These guys treat time signatures like a buffet—sampling odd meters at will and stuffing them into songs with the reckless abandon of a prog-loving mad scientist. Their music is equal parts mind-melting technicality and unapologetic melodrama, with lyrics that range from deep existential musings to full-blown fantasy sagas. If you’ve ever wanted to hear a song that sounds like a calculus equation, Dream Theater is your band.
Their live shows are like watching five guys attempt to break the laws of physics while looking suspiciously calm about it. John Petrucci shreds so fast his beard is rumored to be the source of his power, Jordan Rudess treats his keyboard like a sentient spaceship console, and Mike Portnoy (or Mangini, depending on the era) plays drums with enough limbs to make an octopus jealous. Meanwhile, James LaBrie belts out operatic vocals that could probably be heard in space, and John Myung quietly dominates the bass with the precision of a man solving quantum mechanics in his sleep. Dream Theater fans are a special breed, capable of air-drumming in 13/8 and debating album concepts with the seriousness of a Supreme Court case. Love them or get lost in their 40-minute song structures—either way, Dream Theater is prog-metal royalty, and they’re not here to play three-chord radio hits.