The existence of the progressive subgenre within the boundaries of rock music has always been polarizing – although ridiculed by current fads, it has always boasted a very dedicated and tightly-knit audience.
The same applies to prog’s flag bearers DREAM THEATER – although being a constant target for sharp criticism from the times of grunge’s chequered flannels, right until the stoner beards of nowadays, they managed to win a whole lost generation of the early 90s, which so strongly identified with their music that it managed to grow into one of the most devoted and loyal, but at the same time fiercely critical fan bases in the world.
Each and every album of theirs is examined under microscope, thoroughly dissected right until the last 32-th note, and regardless of their artistic direction, a certain vocal minority is always ready to complain that it doesn’t sound like 25, 15, or 10 years ago.
For better or for worse, it’s 2019 already and DREAM THEATER have a brand new album. Distance Over Time is officially released today and is everything we could possibly want from a progressive metal album.
During their elaborate marketing campaign in the last several months the band members explained at great length how did they managed to find inspiration by isolating themselves in a country barn-turned-studio and by how living and playing together they reinvented the root of what a band is all about – the gratification of creating music with likeminded people.
Good news is, this time they really did it – the album is not overly long, nor its tracks are, nor is ambitiously woven around a concept theme, but this does not automatically mean that we have a garage raw sound, and simple and unpretentious tracks.
On the contrary, this album has everything that makes DREAM THEATER what they are – non-linear song structures like the surprising ending after the fade-out of At Wit’s End (symbolizing the never really disappearing trauma of domestic abuse), odd-time workouts like the main riff in S2N, the exquisite beauty of the not-quite-love-song Out Of Reach, and the dark Star Wars vibe of Pale Blue Dot, featuring an instrumental section where our heroes once again remind us that their technical prowess is still very hard to match.
The album’s sound and production are excellent, especially Mike Mangini, who after 8 years in the band, finally is given a clean slate to display his real potential and his drumming besides being a textbook example in musicianship, is a definite ear candy.
But the most important fact is that everything in Distance Over Time sounds tight, concise, to the point and most of all inspired and has a spirit which is very hard to express with words.
A spirit which we will hopefully be able to hear and feel on the 3-rd of July when DREAM THEATER are to come and play in our homeland, courtesy of Tangra Mega Rock.
Personally, I’m really looking forward to it. Hope you do too.