Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Dream Theater
Label: Atlantic Records
Release: 2003
Rating: 2/5
I was left speechless. This much aggression from Dream Theater isn’t something that happens every day. So what the hell does the train of blackest thoughts have to offer? Let me first clear up something that really bugs me about Dream Theater. They play these hardcore intellectuals who wrap their poetry in lofty preaching. But as long as Portnoy keeps xenophobically backing aggressive US militancy all over planet Earth in his interviews, Dream Theater’s quest for some higher spiritual spheres is just plain laughable. Even Benny Hill is a total amateur next to them.
Petrucci’s guitar has never sounded this aggressively filthy, this raspy. The band already showed a taste for brutality on the previous album “Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence” (2002). Dream Theater have never served up this much half-step riffing (see As I Am, Honor Thy Father, In The Name Of God). But the “modernized” sound and stylistic makeover just don’t sit well with singer James LaBrie and his voice. This time, whenever he decides to follow the half-step guitar riffing, his singing sounds like forced dog barking, or like James Hetfield after getting out of bed on the wrong side on the worst day of his life. LaBrie also sings through all kinds of effects that deliberately distort his natural vocals, since the guys are playing the original aggression card. So from record to record the band gets harsher and harsher while steadily losing melody. As a result, even the solo breaks, or the cross-fire supersonic machine-gunning of all the instruments, which of course aren’t missing from this record either, never fully come alive and never really get their moment. Which means this: along with the melody, Dream Theater have also lost part of their complexity, and in their new look they’re much more linear, while the layering that once enriched the band is irresistibly losing its meaning.
Stream Of Consciousness, with an “espresso” shot of baroque solo shrapnel at the end, is the most melodic moment on the record and (probably just by chance) reminds us, production-wise too, of the band’s better days and their album “Awake” (1994). In The Name Of God gets some dynamics from Rudess’s oriental keyboard parts and the varied work of Mike’s drums, which sound more like percussion in the background here, creating an enviable and exciting contrast in the song. In fact, the Portnoy/Myung rhythm section keeps dragging the record up from its absolute rock bottom.
This time Dream Theater just can’t be let off the hook. My personal opinion is that the guys can’t be bothered to compose anymore and told themselves: “Let’s knock out a quick jam, the record will sound different anyway, we’ve got a name, we’re selling well! Come on, let’s slip in a cuckoo’s egg, people are dumb anyway!” Ideas and drive are in short supply. The record feels forced, hastily and expressly slapped together. A demonstration of total half-step chopping and otherwise supersonic soloing that stays hidden from the ears just doesn’t convince. Dream Theater need a long break, because they’ve delivered a seriously boring product that doesn’t come anywhere near the ankles of their legacy between 1989 and 1999! What Dream Theater are doing with this new album, the new generation of mainstream acts does much better and more convincingly. Metallica and Arch Enemy fans, enjoy listening to Petrucci’s artful audition for joining those two bands. Good night!
Lineup
James LaBrie – vocals
John Petrucci – guitar
Jordan Rudess – keyboards
John Myung – bass guitar
Mike Portnoy – drums, percussion
Production
John Petrucci & Mike Portnoy
Tracklist
1. As I Am (7:47)
2. This Dying Soul (11:27)
3. Endless Sacrifice (11:24)
4. Honor Thy Father (10:24)
5. Vacant (2:57)
6. Stream Of Consciousness (11:16)
7. In The Name Of God (14:14)
Album length: 68:19
