John Petrucci
Terminal Velocity

Taking advantage of the concert activity stoppage that obviously also affected Dream Theater, the guitar god John Petrucci releases his second solo work, "Terminal Velocity," 15 years after his first trial "Suspended Animation."

The solo Petrucci does not have exactly the same approach as he does with his band; we know very well that there's a nice difference between composing for a band and composing on one's own. The solo Petrucci is decidedly less heavy and much more focused on his virtuosity, a very pronounced but intelligent virtuosity that indeed fires off notes a thousand but does so coherently with what he wants to express. Moreover, he allows himself to branch out into different genres and styles without losing sight of his musical orientation. However, there's something missing that truly goes out of the Petrucci scheme and style, yes, he dares but only just enough, a bit further could also be ventured.

In tracks like the title track and especially "Happy Song," virtuosity and melody are perfectly combined; despite the complexity, they also flow very well in the ears of those not very accustomed to such magnificence, they are almost two tracks for a city car ride on a Saturday night. "Glassy-Eyed Zombies" and "Snake in My Boot" propose a sort of technical and sprawling hard rock, while "Temple of Circadia" is the most metal track, balancing between cutting riffs in "Awake" mode and reverberations creating atmosphere. The desire to dare anyway emerges in "Gemini," where Latin rhythms and flamenco guitars pop up, but especially in "Out of the Blue," a calm and nocturnal blues that you wouldn't expect much from Petrucci.

An album composed by Petrucci practically alone, the guitarist personally performs all the guitar parts and entrusts friends Dave LaRue (already present in the first work) and Mike Portnoy with the task of performing the bass and drum parts respectively, leaving them virtually unchanged but allowing some small freedom for modification. But it is on Portnoy that it is necessary to focus; his presence on this record is the result of the friendship that still remains between the two even after his departure from Dream Theater. It seems that Portnoy was given quite a bit of freedom of expression, apparently, Petrucci, aware of his skills and his somewhat bossy demeanor, knew that Portnoy would never limit himself to being a compliant and static performer; as a fact, excessive, frenetic drum rolls, a bit predictable, abound here as well; maybe it's not Portnoy at 100% but at 80%, I'd say yes. Petrucci then expressed words of praise towards the drummer, describing him as grown and skillful in juggling different styles and genres. Some hoped that this reunion between the two was just the first step for a future return of Portnoy to Dream Theater, but this does not seem to be in the band's intentions at all, which sees Mike Mangini as the definitive drummer now fully integrated into the group. However, this rediscovered Petrucci-Portnoy partnership is the antechamber for the reunion of Liquid Tension Experiment - where Portnoy also reunites with the other former companion Jordan Rudess - who have just released their third album after 22 years (I will review it later).

Now the curiosity shifts to what Dream Theater will do in the now completely new album, also resulting from the concert hiatus and not expected so soon; meanwhile, John Petrucci reaffirms himself as divine, if it was still necessary to demonstrate it once again.