DREAM THEATER - stub review added 31st October 2008
Album Review: Systematic Chaos (2007)
For fans of: prog metal... and possibly even thrash
Following on from their last full release, Octavarium, Dream Theater's 2007 release Systematic Chaos sees the New York band signed to Roadrunner Records. The new label debut has a much more 'metal' sound than previous, with a few of the songs verging on thrash. The middle part of 'The Dark Eternal Night' even has a segment that sounds like something from the saloon bar in a cowboy film, which is very, very strange.
Prog elements are fewer and further between on this album than previous, and consequently Dream Theater lose something of the character that made them what they are. If they had recorded a full metal album that would have been one thing, but this is almost a compromise between the two genres.
Systematic Chaos will not fully appeal to the die hard DT fans, but it does make the sound more accessible to everyone else. Not quite a sell out, but you could call it an unwelcome change of stance.
Check out... The middle of 'The Dark Eternal Night'. Bullseye anyone?
Track List:
1. In The Presence Of Enemies Pt. 1
2. Forsaken
3. Constant Motion
4. The Dark Eternal Night
5. Repentance
6. Prophets Of War
7. The Ministry Of Lost Souls
8. In The Presence Of Enemies Pt. 2
Label: Roadrunner Records
Band websites: Dream Theater
