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Dream Theater: Parasomnia
Dream Theater - Parasomnia Album Art

Dream Theater: Parasomnia

Melodic Progressive Metal
5.0/5.0

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InsideOut Music
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 05.02.2025 | Released: 07.02.2025

By now it's old news. Everybody in the prog universe knows: Dream Theater got the band back together. Drummer and founding member Mike Portnoy returned to his Dream Theater family to celebrate their 40th anniversary with a tour and a new studio album, Parasomnia. And it's like he never left. Guitarist John Petrucci explains, "The time was right." Adding:

"We had finished the last album and tour cycle, and we were about to go back into the studio. If it was ever going to happen, it had to happen when we could do it at the start of another record. We've been personally intertwined with Portnoy since we were teenagers. We were in each other's wedding parties, and we even had kids at the same me. Our families are completely connected. We've known one another for so long, and it was a natural conversation."

Dream Theater - Click For Larger Image

Dream Theater

Like many Dream Theater albums in the past, Parasomnia has a conceptual lyrical theme. So what is parasomnia? Petrucci: "Parasomnia is a term for disruptive, sleep-related disturbances including sleepwalking, sleep paralysis, and night terrors ... Since our band name is literally a theater that plays while you're dreaming, it's crazy we didn't think of this sooner," he laughs.


Musically, the Parasomnia concept is fleshed out in grand Dream Theater fashion: expansive and immersive progressive metal with arrangements both intricate and accessible, providing provocative twists and turns, and demonstrating superb, creative, and cohesive musicianship. Something that comes from Dream Theater's familial and musical brotherhood.

Diving a bit deeper, after a few spins, I thought I found an overarching outline, like a proverbial three-point sermon. The first point is the first five songs: dropping into sleep (In The Arms Of Morpheus (Greek god of sleep and dreams)) and then beginning to experience the parasomnia effects (Night Terror, Broken Man, Dead Asleep, and Midnight Messiah). With immense riffs, a wicked rhythm section, and abounding with fiery solos, all these songs are quite heavy, dark, and even foreboding, which seems to characterize parasomnia. Highlighting one song, Midnight Messiah had me thinking of Metallica's Enter Sandman.


The second point is simply the segue, of Are We Dreaming? and Bend The Clock. Within the former ethereal, even eerie, synths swirl around quiet, yet spooky, voices. Is the person talking in his/her sleep? Or is someone speaking to them? Then the segue turns to Bend The Clock, an anthemic ballad with an almost positive vibe, antithetical to the aforementioned five songs. Massive guitar solo included.

Finally, following my sermon analogy, The Shadow Man Incident returns us to the parasomnia effects. Wherein, perhaps my previous questions are answered. Yes, there is something haunting our friend's dream state. Again, Petrucci elaborates:

"Sleep paralysis is when you are awakened while you're still in REM sleep. You can see, but you can't move. It's a phenomenon that has happened for centuries, and it's documented by countless people. It's like a demon is sitting on your chest. Some of these accounts claim to have seen the same figure known as "The Shadow Man" or The Hat Man". The final words are, "Maybe leave a light on tonight". You don't want this guy to come for you, so it was very fitting."

The song is classic, perhaps more typical, Dream Theater fare with it's many movements, time signature play, and tempo changes. Every musician gets to flex their creative musical muscles. Also typical is Dream Theater's ability to keep a listener engaged in 20 minutes of epic musical experience. Very few prog bands can master this skill. I would encourage the listener to wait for the impressive, near prog rock jazz fusion, breakdown around 11 minutes. Pure Dream Theater. The song and the album climaxes with the ringing of a clock alarm. Are you awake or still dreaming?

All said (with much verbosity), Parasomnia is another expansive, immersive, and entertaining adventure into the progressive metal realm of the ever creative Dream Theater, sure to please fans old and new. Easily recommended. Oh yeah, welcome back Mike Portnoy.

Learn more about Dream Theater's Parasomnia from InsideOut Music.


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The Take Away

All said, Parasomnia is another expansive, immersive, and entertaining adventure into the progressive metal realm of the ever creative Dream Theater, sure to please fans old and new. Easily recommended. Oh yeah, welcome back Mike Portnoy.

Support the artist, click the link below to buy the album at Amazon (US site) in your favorite format.

Purchase Dream Theater - Parasomnia at Amazon
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