Album review: DREAM THEATER – Parasomnia

DREAM THEATER - Parasomnia

InsideOut [Release date 07.02.25]

Dream Theater’s sixteenth studio album marks the return of drummer Mike Portnoy after a 15 year hiatus. While the album ambitiously explores themes of sleep disturbances it does lack the innovative spark that once defined the band’s legacy.

The opening instrumental, ‘In The Arms of Morpheus’, and the following ‘Night Terror’ start the album in dramatic fashion but make predictable progress.

On tracks like ‘A Broken Man’ and ‘Midnight Messiah’ Jordan Rudess’ keyboard contributions feel tired. Does this guy ever change his patches?

The narrative of ‘Dead Asleep’, inspired by a real-life incident of sleep violence, is a compelling concept but again the band recycle familiar motifs.

The real standout is the mid-tempo ‘Bend The Clock’. John Petrucci’s emotive guitar work really shines, immediately elevating proceedings and in direct contrast to the inevitable and interminable bombast that otherwise characterizes this album.

The 20-minute concluding epic ‘The Shadow Man Incident’ sums up where the band are at these days, building to a typical jam-fest with Rudess’ flamboyant keyboard passages redolent of times gone by but not adding anything new.

The album actually brings back feelings when witnessing their 2007 UK show. “They wallowed for a good two hours in music that was – sadly – far too up its own sphincter.” (They did redeem themselves for their 2014 outing). With the jamming mentality to the fore it is very easy for one track to merge into another and no doubt this could be problematical in any live show.

The album will tick all the fan boy boxes attracting the usual progressive metal puffery but for the less ingratiated there remains a strong smell of sameness.

Dream Theater know their target audience and are safe and secure in their own collective skins but these one time genre innovators appear to be now in desperate need of Petrucci’s beard oil and Bourbon to both revitalise and refresh. I wonder if they also need an independent producer. ‘Parasomnia’ may in fact be their wake-up call. ***1/2

Review by David Randall

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