Dream Theater
Train of Thought

The Massacre Album. That's how we could define "Train Of Thought", the seventh studio album by Dream Theater. We've always known that DT had an aggressive sound, otherwise, they couldn't be defined as metal. But never before have they had such an extreme sound. With this album, however, the five from Boston don't think twice and produce an extremely heavy and pounding album... Capable of blowing everyone away! Progressive metal is not a sufficient definition for this very hard album. Never like here do the influences of the most extreme and dark genres of metal emerge, an album with clear references to death metal and especially thrash metal. There's a noticeable dominance of the guitar over the keyboard and a more virtuosic rather than melodic approach in the solos, but the band's progressive influences are still significantly present.

This is perhaps the album that most disappointed fans, especially those traditionally more progressive, for the reasons already described above. But trust me, I'm not one of those, and I believe that this "Train Of Thought", even if it's not the best they've ever done, is still a great album that stands out mainly for the harshness of its sounds.

Once again, numerical tricks emerge: the seventh album and seven songs, and the first track begins with the reverb that concluded "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence".

"As I Am" is pure thrash metal in perfect Metallica style: heavy guitar, almost nonexistent keyboards, and also a great solo by Petrucci. More frantic is No. 2 "This Dying Soul", the second chapter of the Alcoholics Anonymous saga: guitars in clear Slipknot style, very electronic keyboards, and also a reprise of "The Glass Prison" in the central part; beautiful finale: first great keyboard solo by Jordan Rudess, beautiful solo by Petrucci in clear death key, and splendid final guitar-keyboard unison. More experimental but still very heavy is No. 3 "Endless Sacrifice": the first 4/5 minutes are characterized by slow and psychedelic verses alternating with choruses in perfect Limp Bizkit style, then it enters an instrumental part in clear thrash style characterized by heavy guitars but also great solos and unisons by Petrucci and Rudess (in between there's also room for a music piece in clear cartoon style), then returning to a nu-metal style at the end. But the most total massacre comes with No. 4 "Honor Thy Father" where the guitars reach such an extreme sound they could split your ears; Rudess, however, finds his space with a long solo in the middle and another, more chaotic solo before the last chorus; perhaps the ending is a bit too repetitive. The only weak point of the disc is No. 5 "Vacant"; note how even in the hardest album they could make, DT didn't want to give up the slow moment: not even three minutes of bass, piano, and cello to rest your ears a bit; but it's also a very dark ballad and, therefore, in tune with the rest of the album. The perhaps least contested track of the album is the long instrumental "Stream Of Consciousness" which, while not giving up on distorted riffs, gives more space to Jordan Rudess’s experimentation and melodies, who can truly express himself to the fullest here. And it closes with the dark and gloomy "In The Name of God": 14 minutes alternating very heavy riffs with piano melodies and electronic experimentation: in the instrumental part, a great guitar-keyboard unison well accompanied by the bass, one of the album's highest points; even here, perhaps, the end is too repetitive but it concludes with a nice melody on the piano.

Thus ends the massacre album... massacre in a positive way, though. A record truly played with a lot of determination, I see no reason at all to criticize it.