Review | Dream Theater – Parasomnia

Inside Out Records

Being a Dream Theater fan since these guys released their notorious debut album ‘When Dream And Day Unite’ way back in 1989, I was really looking forward to reviewing their new album called ‘Parasomnia’, especially because this album marks the return of the prodigal drummer Mike Portnoy. ‘Black Clouds & Silver Linings’ (2009) was the last Dream Theater album that Portnoy managed the drum kit and that one was one of the most balanced DT-albums ever, featuring the amazing DT-classic epic ,,The Count Of Tuscany”.

PROG METAL GOODS

On their 16^th studio album ‘Parasomnia’ you can enjoy another soon to be epic Dream Theater-monster called ,,The Shadow Man Incident”, a song that almost clocks in at twenty minutes and is filled with bombastic riffs, countless melodies and intricate, almost not to follow musicianship of LaBrie, Petrucci, Myung, Rudess and of course power house Portnoy.

‘A View From The Top Of The World’ (2021) was of course a great album as well, and it featured a couple of killer tracks, but ‘Parasomnia’ is musically speaking of a higher level. It is a cliché, I know, but these guys really never cease to amaze me. Just as I thought that it could not get any better than their previous album, they simply deliver the prog metal goods! ‘Parasomnia’ is a kind of concept album, as the lyrics in each song explore the peculiarities and disturbances of sleep; but the album opens with the five-minutes instrumental ,,In The Arms Of Morpheus”, which introduces musical themes utilized throughout the entire album.

THE SINGLES AND HIGHLIGHTS

Next up is ,,Night Terror”, the first single of the album, a ferocious track featuring thunderous drum passages and Petrucci’s almost trash-like guitar riff makes this one very heavy indeed. The second single of the album ,,A Broken Man”, shines with melody and very explosive passages from the keyboards and again the drums, so yeah, you really know/hear that Mike is back!!

The highlights of this album I would say are, of course the already mentioned grand epic: ,,The Shadow Man Incident”, ,,Midnight Messiah” and ,,Dead Asleep.” ,,Midnight Messiah” is a really dark prog metal, almost anthem-like track, with lots of tempo changes and a fantastic chorus, while ,,Dead Asleep” is again a rather dark song with impressive riffs/hooks from Petrucci, proving again what a progressive metal powerhouse Dream Theater really is.

DREAM THEATER – THE CONCLUSION

Dream Theater really has unmatched technical prowess and skills, making this album one of the best that they have released in the last years. However, I still think that classic DT albums like ‘Images And Words (1992),’ ‘Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence’ (2002) and ‘Train Of Thought’ (2003) are slightly better, but I am sure that ‘Parasomnia’ will end up high in my top ten list of prog metal albums of 2025!!

Listening tip: ,,Dead Asleep” and of course play it LOUD!!

Release date: 7 February 2025