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Rating:
And I had to close my circle of reviews on Dream Theater's studio albums, and the only one left was the latest fantastic "Systematic Chaos," another album that, it seems, has received another string of slaps in the face that in my opinion it doesn't deserve, as no Dream Theater album would deserve. Systematic Chaos, I find an album of excellent craftsmanship, indeed it should be considered the album that brings DT back to their best sound, if there was indeed a slip in the last period (and we need to verify if this slip really occurred!). If in Octavarium a more melodic sound based on more accessible structures was favored, here we return to a harder sound with very complex instrumental parts (which the band never abandoned).
That Dream Theater have truly returned in style becomes evident from the start with the first part of the suite "In The Presence Of Enemies," which begins with a remarkable instrumental part that truly puts Petrucci and Rudess in the spotlight (notable Petrucci's solo) and then flows into a more regular part with distorted guitars in the foreground and keyboards accompanying LaBrie's voice. After the final guitar-keyboard unison, the rustle of wind makes us understand that the story will continue with the last track. For the moment, it leads us to a pleasant "Forsaken" based on a fairly basic verse-chorus structure and a melody that harks back to gothic metal and Evanescence thanks to the piano notes and the background of the keyboards. "Constant Motion" introduces us to the heaviest part of the album: a track with thrash inflections, and a highly technical Petrucci, especially at the beginning (nice initial riffs); in the chorus, the keyboards add a melodic touch; the instrumental part offers us a great solo from Petrucci and a pretty decent solo from Rudess. And what about "The Dark Eternal Night"? Almost a new Metropolis if it only had a bit more theatricality; perhaps the track that best adheres to the typical structures of Dream Theater songs. Extreme and heavy track crowned by a long instrumental part that amidst complex guitar and keyboard loops and music in horror and comedy style reveals itself truly a masterpiece! The finale is also beautiful, where Petrucci's heavy guitars are accompanied by Jordan Rudess's continuum. "Repentance" (4th part of the "Alcoholics Anonymous" saga) beyond those who refer to it as a dull track is in reality an authentic stroke of genius: no one, after reading its 10:43 duration, would have expected an entirely slow piece, yet... indeed it turns out to be an extremely psychedelic track with melancholic guitars supported by piano and some keyboard background (evident references to Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Opeth). Beautiful the central solo, then after the series of voices anticipating the last part, we slide right into the final part where piano and acoustic guitar guide the choirs. All very beautiful but now we move on to a more immediate "Prophets Of War": nice intro with Jordan Rudess's synth, then the track proceeds with powerful guitars and a bright and effective melody. "The Ministry Of Lost Souls" is another rather atypical track for the band: 14 minutes in which melody prevails, however; the first 7 minutes are melancholic, orchestral, with pleasant piano and acoustic guitar parts, but after 7 minutes we enter an excellent instrumental part where the sound becomes harder and we witness the usual complex virtuosity of guitar and keyboard to then return around the 11-minute mark to a softer melody that concludes with a long and harmonious solo... The rustle of wind leads us to the second part of "In The Presence Of Enemies": a slow and suggestive start, a melody that grows until the sixth minute and then gives way to aggressive riffs and the same choruses heard in "Prophets Of War" and culminates, around the ninth minute, in yet another long instrumental part in typical Dream style; a theatrical and suggestive finale (with decisive keyboards) closes a true masterpiece.
Perhaps slightly a step below the military stones that the group has bestowed in the '90s, but I think this album truly deserves these blessed 5 stars!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Forsaken (05:35)
For a while
I thought I fell asleep
Lying motionless inside a dream
Then rising suddenly
I felt a chilling breath upon me
She softly whispered in my ear
Forsaken
I have come for you tonight
Awaken
Look in my eyes and take my hand
Give yourself up to me
I waited painfully
For night to fall again
Trying to silence the fear within me
Out of an ivory mist
I felt a stinging kiss
And saw a crimson stain on her lips
I have to know your name
Where have I seen your face before?
My dear one don't you be afraid
Forsaken
I have come for you tonight
Awaken
Look in my eyes and take my hand
Give yourself up to me
Take me far away
Close your eyes
And hold your breath
To the ends of the earth
Forsaken
I have come for you tonight
Awaken
Look in my eyes and take my hand
Forsaken
Fly away with me tonight
Awaken
Renew my life
Now you are mine
Give yourself up to me
03 Constant Motion (06:55)
Tunnel vision at blinding speed
Controlling my thoughts, obsessing me
Void of any uncertainty
Throughout my very soul
Lost illusions of mind control
Resisting all hope of letting go
Racing impulse of dark desire
Drives me through the night
I try to shut it down
It leaves me in the dust
No matter what I've found
I can never get enough
Frantic actions of insanity
Impulsive laced profanity
Long for elusive serenity
Way out of my control
Traveling through both space and time
Out of body
Out of mind
Out of control
My wheels in constant motion
Spinning round and round it goes
I can't let up
I can't let go
Can't stop this flame from burning
Forever more
Into the night
Blistering
Focus here, focus there
Cannot see the light
Falling down through the night
Sprawling everywhere
Searching left, searching right
Panic setting in
I can no longer fight
When will this end?
Accelerate, dislocate
Set to crash and burn
Haven't got time to waste
Not planning to return
Aggravate, Agitate
When will I ever learn?
There's no way out of here
Nowhere to turn
Obsessive yearning
Compulsive burning
Still never learning
Insane random thoughts
of neat disorder
Scattered wasteland surrounding me
Tattered memories of what used to be
Apocalyptic mind debris
Until we meet again
Traveling through both space and time
Out of body
Out of mind
Out of control
My wheels in constant motion
Spinning round and round it goes
I can't let up
I cant' let go
Can't stop this flame from burning
Forever more
Into the night
Blistering
Traveling through both space and time
Out of body
Out of mind
Out of control
My wheels in constant motion
Spinning round and round it goes
I can't let up
I can't let go
Can't stop this flame from burning
Can't stop the wheels from turning
Traveling through both space and time
You get yours
And I got mine
Out of control
My wheels in constant motion
Spinning round and round it goes
I can't let up
I can't let go
Can't stop this flame from burning
Forever more
Into the night
Blistering
04 The Dark Eternal Night (08:53)
No one dared to
Speak of the terrible danger
The hideous ancient warnings
Forged in the void of night
He is risen up
Out of the blackness
Chaos
The last of the prophets
Sinister
A sickening monstrous sight
Through the stifling heat
Underneath the pale green moon
I burned with a thirst
To seek things not yet seen
Climbing endless stairs
Leading to the choking room
Eager to explore
His most shocking mysteries
Drifting beyond all time
Out of a churning sky
Drawn to the beckoning light
Of the dark eternal night
Black forces
Rage in the vortex
Fighting
Waves of destruction
Swallowing
The echo of the universe
I am the last
Born of the blood of the pharaohs
The ultimate god of a rotting creation
Sent to unleash this curse
Restless crowds draw near
Nameless hooded forms appear
Amidst fallen ruins
Grotesque creatures battle
Shadowed on a screen
Yellow evil faces leer
Vacant monuments
Corpses of dead worlds left behind
Drifting beyond all time
Out of a churning sky
Drawn to the beckoning light
Of the dark eternal night
Trapped in a hellish dream
Spinning past worlds unseen
And frightfully vanishing
Into the dark eternal night
Drifting beyond all time
Out of a churning sky
Drawn to the beckoning light
Of the dark eternal night
Trapped in a hellish dream
Spinning past worlds unseen
And frightfully vanishing
Into the dark eternal night
05 Repentance (10:43)
Hello Mirror, so glad to see you my friend
It's been a while...
Staring at the empty page before me
All the years of wreckage running through my head
Patterns of my life I thought adorned me
Revealing hurtful shame and deep lament
Overwhelming sorrow now absorbs me
As the pen begins to trace my darkest past
Signs throughout my life
that should have warned me
Of all the wrongs I've done for which I must repent
I once thought it better to regret
Things that I have done than I haven't
Sometimes you've got to be wrong
And learn the hard way
And sometimes you've got to be strong
When you think it's too late
Staring at the finished page before me
All the damage now so clear and evident
Thinking about the dreaded task in store for me
A pit of fear at the thought of my amends
Hoping that the step will help restore me
To face my past and ask for forgiveness
Cleaning up my dirty side of this unswept street
Could this be the beginning of the end?
I once thought it better to regret
Things that I have done than haven't
Sometimes you've got to be wrong
And learn the hard way
And just when you're through hanging on
You're saved.
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Other reviews
By Dolly_Quinn
This album is terrible and represents all those things that are fundamentally wrong with the prog-metal genre.
Systematic Chaos is one of the least valid works ever made in metal.
By paloz
Has no one noticed yet that the band does nothing but slightly modify songs already written in the past?
The DT want to be megalomaniacs, they want to act like they play endless suites...to amaze the drooling followers who would follow them to the world’s end.
By High Voltage
"Systematic Chaos is certainly the album that comes closest to what Dream Theater is today."
"The Ministry Of Lost Souls could be defined as one of the best tracks on the album—almost 15 minutes of pure progressive and pure Dream Theater compositions."
By MarkTwin
A truly brilliant start, that rapid and engaging prog note by note captivates immediately.
With this album, it seems they want to prove that they still want to amaze and experiment, and in my opinion, they have succeeded almost exemplary.
By lux
Today I consider the Theater of Dreams the ultimate embodiment of mediocrity and complete artistic nothingness made Rock.
What awaits you after inserting the disc into the player is, therefore, an Anti-Art endurance test.
