Dream Theater
Systematic Chaos

THE REVIEW

And so the New York quintet is back in the game with a new album, their ninth.

They've switched labels, moving to Roadrunner Records, which decisively influences the quality of the work, especially regarding the sound:

as for the guitars, no complaints—a nearly perfect sound both in clean and distorted parts, with well-placed solos featuring the wah-wah; the same can be said for the keyboards, as Jordan has always been the member most attentive to timbre and has never disappointed.

Let's move to the drums: the idea to use triggers on the bass drums proves successful, creating what I think is the most beautiful sound ever produced by them in the band's entire history; however, I was a bit disappointed by the choice to keep the cymbals' volume super low and to use a lower tuning for the snare drum, which thus loses brightness and clarity (if you listen to the dark eternal night you can notice this).

Another negative note is the chick... I mean, the singer James LaBrie, who now really can't do it anymore; he deliberately lacks the vocal clarity that always distinguished him, especially in the early albums; not to mention the high notes, which are almost entirely missing, in short, a rather poor performance compared to the previous ones.

''In The Presence Of Enemies Part 1'': a great start that, however, gets lost in too many virtuoso displays; the vocal line doesn't convey anything particular; the first minutes of the song are still very beautiful. 6.5

''Forsaken'': it is a somewhat commercial song but is nevertheless sober and well arranged. 7

''Constant Motion'': well... I don't think there's much to add to what everyone has already said, the song is a bit of a rip-off of Metallica classics but still stands tall; beautiful second verse, full of syncopation, as well as the guitar and keyboard solos; the chorus falters a bit. 7.5

''The Dark Eternal Night'': you have to listen to it a bit before you can understand it; it's, in my opinion, a good song but would have been more successful as an instrumental since the sung parts are almost ridiculous and heavily distorted in the studio. The piano breaks in the central section are nice. 7

''Repentance'': it's the typical song placed there to fill a gap; it says absolutely nothing and goes unnoticed. 5

''Prophets Of War'': oh... I must say that this Muse-like experimentation doesn't displease me at all; surely not destined to become a classic but, in my opinion, it stands out for originality in the album. 7.5

''The Ministry Of Lost Souls'': slow ballad... perhaps too slow and predictable; I must say the heavy central part has absolutely nothing to do with the rest, and it could have been avoided or developed as a standalone song. 6/7

''In The Presence Of Enemies Part 2'': after the first minutes of extreme boredom and predictability, it begins with the section ''The Slaughter Of The Damned'', a truly captivating part capable of pulling in the listener; the instrumental part falters for an excess of technicalities that make it excessively complex; the final section is beautiful. 7/8

In conclusion, it is definitely not one of their best albums but is still something interesting to listen to.