Dream Theater Parasomnia CD Review

In the summer of 1992, a few friends of mine would often get together and network five or six computers and run a Black Hawk chopper sim. I was known to sneak in my own music and replace the sim’s soundtrack with tunes I had ripped from CD onto my computer, including ABBA’s Waterloo (1974), Run DMC’s Tougher Than Leather (1985), and Dream Theater’s then new release, Images and Words. The Waterloo was to annoy, the Run DMC for everyone to rap along with together, and Images and Words just to rock out and blow shit up.

It wasn’t until the release of the 1995 extended play A Change of Seasons that I really got heavily into Dream Theater, though, upon receiving a copy of the ep as a birthday present from a good friend of more than 36 years now. After drummer Mike Portnoy left the group in 2010, the band kinda fell off my radar, however.

Portnoy returned to the fold in 2023 and shortly thereafter the group began work on a new album. That new album, Parasomnia, a thematic adaptation of the idea of a concept album, dropped February 7^th from Inside Out Music, and it’s a ripper. Parasomnia is an album that dares to ask questions such as, “How do we really know if we are asleep or awake?” “Are we dreaming?” And “How do we wake up?” Let’s dive in.

The opening instrumental “In the Arms of Morpheus” initially convinced me I’d tuned into an old episode of the Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, before the tune gave way to the spectacular double bass drumming of Mike Portnoy. Then it got denser than a black hole and eventually resolved melodically. The first vocal from long-time singer James LaBrie does not come in until more than seven minutes into the record and then not until the second song, “Night Terrors,” a solid progressive rocker that highlights the polished sound Dream Theater harnessed on classic albums such as Images and Words, Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999), and the ep A Change of Seasons.The drum sound in “Night Terrors” is huge. Incidentally, you can peep at the video for this 10-minute track, the first single, below.

The band changes time signatures so often that I envisioned the Mad Hatter’s tea party, with the Hatter bellowing, “Change Places!” over and over. Sometimes it’s the drums moving forward in the sound, others John Petrucci’s guitars dominate what the listener is experiencing. Keyboards, handled by Jordan Rudess (Dixie Dregs) since 1999, get their fair shake as well, the only instrument I rarely caught on the top of the sound leading the gallop was the bass of founding member John Myung. Though Myung absolutely destroys in the opener and really ties the whole album together, with him and Portnoy reunited to hold down the bottom end of the Dream Theater sound.

The third track, “A Broken Man,” bogs down a little near the half-way point, but gets sorta jazzy with about 2:30 remaining, then returns to previously visited spaces. I’m not a huge fan of this track.

“Dead Asleep” had me revisiting the Twilight Zone feeling out of the gate and the inclusion of the strings (presumably orchestrated on the keys) in this one gave a particularly haunting air. I really grooved on the guitar work, piano and the use of the toms on the track. It was in the early running to be my favorite song on the new eight-song release. Petrucci soars in the buildup to LaBrie’s entrance, and his solo on this one is the strongest on the record, IMHO.

The disc is tied together much like the old Queensrÿche concept album Operation: Mindcrime, but without so many interludes, though a few do exist. Queensrÿche was heavily influential on Petrucci, Myung and Portnoy when founding the band that would eventually evolve into Dream Theater as far back as 1986. Original vocalist Chris Collins was recruited after the trio heard him singing a cover of “Queen of the Reich.”

The crunchy “Midnight Messiah” kicks off the second half of the record. Petrucci really works up and down the neck of his instrument here. I have to admit, I somehow missed the transition to the mostly whispered interlude “Are We Dreaming?” until halfway through it, upon each and every listening.

The acoustic switch up intro to “Behind the Clock” came as a breath of fresh air after the pummeling drum-filled bonanza the first two-thirds of the album highlights, with Portnoy returning to the fold after a nearly 16-year absence. Upon further exposure to the record, I find THIS is the highlight of the new release,

The 20 minute “The Shadow Man Incident” opens with a brief interlude, then Dream Theater brings the heavy.  It’s a slower tempo two minutes, then the band slides into an ominous marching rhythm ahead of a dead stop at the 2:51 mark, then launches into a two-minute-long prelude before LaBrie’s vocals come in nearly five minutes into the marathon track. All the complex arrangements on “The Shadow Man…” brought to mind 1995’s seven-movement “A Change of Seasons” off the ep of the same title. Around seven minutes in a fourth part kicks up the tempo significantly as the band reaches the meat of the song. LaBrie drops out at the track’s midpoint, allowing some space for Myung, Rudess, Petrucci and Portnoy to shine. This section is highlighted by snazzy keyboard work, some great drum fills and some deft, dexterous fingering of the guitar strings and bass. LaBrie rejoins his bandmates with about four minutes remaining and launches into the song’s climax that ties the whole piece together. The final minute of the track is reserved for ambient strings, cityscape sounds, a dripping faucet, and a growing, distorted voice saying, “Wake Up,” until the listener actually does. - Or do they? - Fade to black.

Parasomnia doesn’t contain a “Pull Me Under,” but it is a damn rock-solid release from one of the big three of progressive metal (Queensrÿche and Fates Warning being the other two). It’s good to see the Theater back in business with Portnoy after all these years.

Standout tracks: “Night Terrors,” “Dead Asleep,” “Midnight Messiah,” “Behind the Clock,” and “The Shadow Man Incident.”

~Mike