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After more than twenty years of career, with 8 studio albums, numerous fans and just as many detractors, Dream Theater, the quintessential prog metal band, release the 9th chapter of their saga, titled "Systematic Chaos", the first album after signing with the record label Roadrunner Records.
The album opens with the first part of the long suite "In The Presence Of Enemies", with a powerful and incisive instrumental intro that already gives a glimpse of the new sounds adopted and explored in the new album. The song develops in 2 parts for the first section and in 4 for the second, for a total of six. The song is split into two parts for a simple reason: it was necessary to make it clear that the album was not connected in any way to the previous one (something that has often happened in their productions) and that it was not a concept album. For the first reason, the track couldn’t be placed at the end, as it would have been similar to "Octavarium," and for the second reason, it couldn’t be placed as the opening track (it would have recalled productions like "2112" by "Rush") so it was deemed appropriate to split it. However, when combined, it results in a composition of more than 25 minutes, which constitutes a new record for the band. The lyrics talk about a man who, by selling part of his soul to the devil before death, joins his ranks and must fight for him. In the end, he is redeemed by a savior, probably identifiable with Jesus. Some parts are very well elaborated and fitting (especially in the second part, with a fantastic refrain in the third part about the dark lord) while others need revisiting.
Next comes "Forsaken" opened by an excellent piano intro, which, however, fails to elevate the entire track's outcome. The solo, despite being very well developed, doesn’t quite fit within the composition, although there is a decent chorus, which often recalls some songs within "Octavarium." The third track is "Constant Motion", a good song, with many references to the typical sounds of the best Metallica, rethought in prog style by Dream Theater. The instrumental part is very well executed, and this time Petrucci and Rudess manage to give their best, bringing a decisive twist to the track. A video was also made for the song, but it cuts out part of these evolutions’ completeness.
Next is the most powerful and dark track of the entire album, "The Dark Eternal Night", in which Labrie's voice is supported by Portnoy’s, which is heavily "dirty." To enhance such sound, Petrucci uses a 7-string guitar, with which the song opens, followed by the rest of the band. It’s noticeable how the keyboard in the initial part is very much in the background, while Myung uses an atypical technique for this song, and Portnoy completes it all with extensive use of the double bass pedal, to give typical metal sounds. Excellent is the instrumental digression where the mad Rudess adds a ragtime piano solo part, reminiscent of the wonderful "Dance of Eternity". Even if not executed with the same mastery, it manages to break the powerful and dark whirlwind created by the other three instrumentalists.
Following is "Repetance" (the only reference to other albums) narrating parts 8 and 9 of the saga about anonymous alcoholics (which in the end should be 12, mirroring the 12 steps). The track is very calm and marks the close of the album's first part, characterized by a heavier and more metallic sound, in favor of the second, with new sounds and more tranquility. Interesting is the concluding part of overlapped speaking featuring famous names from the music scene such as Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Stephen Wilson, and Chris Jericho, to name a few. Then we find "Prophets of war" where the 5 New Yorkers transform into the 3 Muse, elaborating the sounds experimented by the British group in more prog keys. Such a similarity can be noticed from the voice and synth intro, the vocal technique used (lots of vibrato on mid-high notes), and the guitar technique (extensive use of 5 chords). It’s interesting to note how the chorus is not sung by any of the band members but by the fans (I think it will be a truly great experience to hear and sing this piece live), gathered in the New York studio (the most daring waited in line for 7 hours to be admitted).
We come, amidst ups and downs, to the seventh track of the album titled "The Ministry Of Lost Souls", which talks about a woman saved from drowning by a man who, however, gives his life for this noble gesture (fantastic text and figures used). Remorse grips her, and she can’t live serenely. The song recalls typical Pink Floyd sounds, always readapted and re-elaborated, resulting in a truly well-constructed ballad, sometimes moving and engaging, where the simplicity and beauty of the melodic parts blend with a fantastic LaBrie managing to modulate his voice, making it very soft and fully suited to the track. Then opens a vast instrumental section leading towards the final apotheosis of the song, which ends with a breath of wind, sweeping away the tears before the final piece. One of the best tracks on the album.
We return to "In the Presence Of Enemies", but with the second part. If "The Ministry Of Lost Souls" had warmed you, the gloomy and barely hinted guitar and keyboard riffs really give chills. LaBrie perfectly sings the initial part, which evolves and intensifies (as I already said, the chorus of this first section of the track is truly fitting), till it explodes in the second (fourth for the whole track) section where screams of war give way to powerful lyrics and an equally powerful singer, who manages to make the song whirl to a new instrumental part. We then reach the conclusion (not bad but far less beautiful than the one of "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence") and the definitive closure. Nice is the idea of postponing the last notes after a brief silence.
In essence, "Systematic Chaos" is a good album from the fathers of prog metal; it’s certainly not at the level of the production in the early '90s, but it holds up very well even this time, always considering the high standard that Dream Theater consistently maintains.
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.
