Dream Theater are known by almost every metal fan all over the world. Something more - they are a favorite band to many people, and it’s always hard to write about a new album by a group like this, so “Systematic Chaos” is the next challenge for critics to do a precise analysis and appropriate rating. It is no secret that Petrucci, Portnoy and their colleagues are wonderful instrumentalists. From the very beginning of their career they are devoted to progressive metal, and the new CD is not an exception. Again, on the frontline there are intricate melodies and long compositions. However, LaBrie’s role as a leader in the songs is not as big as in the previous releases, and long solos predominate over the other components. The atmosphere of the tracks is changing instantly; the tempo slows back or speeds up within the range of one minute only. The average length of “Systematic Chaos” exceeds the hour by 18 minutes, which is the main fault of the album. For eight songs this is simply too much. We all know what Dream Theater’s abilities are. They approved them over the years, but such kind of ostentation, if not irritating, is boring for most of the ordinary listeners. “Systematic Chaos” is not innovative, but still deserves more than one hearing to be taken up better in its entirety. It surely consists of the compulsory genius which flows from every Theater album, but the maniacal effort of the musicians to overdraw their skills is audible, too, which is just unnecessary. Highly impressive are “The Dark Eternal Night” with its powerful beginning and the tremendous combination between LaBrie’s and Portnoy’s voices, and the balladesque moments with a couple of fascinating piano melodies in “Forsaken”. I wouldn’t tell something about the other songs with the idea that every music fan understands that it is quite difficult to lock such kind of multilayer work in the frames of speech. I feel obliged, however, to draw attention to the high-class cover artwork of “Systematic Chaos” - an absolute masterpiece! I’m sure I might and will face the anger of the fanatic Dream Theater fans, but this can’t be a reason to give a higher rating to an album which does not deserve it, although it tries to prove the opposite with every extra minute of music.