DREAM THEATER

After the last album that has left me on my appetite, the band is back with their first release with the new drummer present from the first stage of the recording to the last. Mike Mangini on drums is following the pace of the the band's music with ease and we don't miss the absence of Mr. Portnoy. The music is still characterized by the playing of John Petrucci on guitars who from the song "The Enemy Inside" show his talents with some exquisite guitars solo. In the "Looking Glass" song, if it wasn't for the nice bass and guitar solo break, the song would be a total miss with his simple chorus. Things gets better with "Enigma Machine" with some nice instrumental music, brighten up by some nice soloing of Jordan Rudess. "Behind the Veil" show a James Labrie playing the devil with his voice to capture the dark essence of some parts of the song, which is quickly getting back to a brighter mood. In this song the keyboards of Rudess are in the background just to create the atmosphere. "Surrender to Reason" has a nice acoustic intro followed by classical arrangements with some nice bass parts by Myung and a Petrucci who take a riff of the book of Rush's song "By Thor Thor and the Snow Dog".

The epic "Illumination Theory" start with a dark and very heavy intro and some typical but efficient instrumental parts for the band. Mike Mangani and Jordan Rudess are very active here with some fast and complex parts. Then the break that divide the song in two parts with a breather, where we can hear some nature and animal sounds (birds). Was it an inspiration from "Close to the Edge"? Then some movie soundtrack passage, a nice bass break and a James Labrie who is getting back with his heavy voice. You can also notice the short Keith Emerson keyboards parts from Jordan, who is on fire on this song. The end section of the song is the return to a more relax atmosphere after the storm with a slower pace where Labrie's vocals are very emotional. As with most epics Dream Theater's song, this is the highlight of this cd. After many spins of this cd , I don't think it's a better album than the well acclaimed "A Dramatic Turn of Events". So I am not sure that those who have enjoyed the latter, will love this one. Not essential, 3 stars