On its predecessor Systematic Chaos (2007), the New York group Dream Theater came across as somewhat unbalanced. It seemed as if they wanted to dissect their complex sound, in which especially tough metal and fragile prog meet, where each song had to represent a style. That their versatility can be brought together much better in long epic pieces can be heard on Black Clouds & Silver Linings.
The group sounds in old-fashioned form in four dazzling musical theater pieces, a ballad and a single. Little is left to the imagination, in the opening piece A Nightmare To Remember alone, thunder, rain and cars crashing with screeching brakes resound in addition to the raging guitar playing of John Petrucci and the complex rhythm patterns of Mike Portnoy. Partly due to the melodic vocals of James LaBrie, the music remains accessible and you as a listener are kept by the story. Dream Theater is not only one of the inventors of progmetal but also its uncrowned king. Fortunately, Black Clouds & Silver Linings shows why. (MR)more
