Dream Theater Distance Over Time (2019)

Of course, everyone knows Dream Theater. Through the years, they have had a pretty typical history of players coming and going. But one thing holds mostly the same through the years, and that is the high quality Progressive Metal sound. They have had a huge influence on progressive metal and continue to do so. However, lately, it seems that the music never changes much and that is everyone's biggest complaint…

The two-time GRAMMY® Award nominated progressive metal band Dream Theater has sold over 15 million records worldwide. Distance Over Time is the band’s 14th studio album. For this record, the band approached things a little differently. For the first time, the bandmates lived, wrote and recorded together at the secluded Yonderbarn studios in Monticello, NY over the course of four months. For the new album, the band wanted to return to their roots and produce a more organic record. Despite these changes however, Dream Theater upholds their unique signature of combining metallic aggression and progressive scope and puts it in a frame of tighter songwriting.

The two-time GRAMMY® Award nominated progressive metal band Dream Theater has sold over 15 million records worldwide. Distance Over Time is the band’s 14th studio album. For this record, the band approached things a little differently. For the first time, the bandmates lived, wrote and recorded together at the secluded Yonderbarn studios in Monticello, NY over the course of four months. For the new album, the band wanted to return to their roots and produce a more organic record. Despite these changes however, Dream Theater upholds their unique signature of combining metallic aggression and progressive scope and puts it in a frame of tighter songwriting.

Coming a year after Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, it's great to hear that Dream Theater hadn't lost their überheavy edge. John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Jordan Rudess, and bassist John Myung effectively peeled back the pretentious excesses of Six Degrees, turned them in on themselves, and came up with a leaner, meaner but no less ambitious outing. The centerpiece track, despite the fact that it is second on the disc, is "This Dying Soul: IV. Reflections of Reality (Revisited)." A tome about alcoholism and recovery, it's strident riff opens out onto vast sonic panoramas where pianos and rhythm section offer Petrucci the space he needs to take his guitar playing into overdrive. Also, lyrically this is an evolutionary track on the set; it opens doors for the rest of the narratives here…

A brand-new addition to Dream Theater’s extensive ‘Lost Not Forgotten Archives’ project, ‘Live in Berlin - 2019’ documents one of the band's first live European appearances supporting the critically acclaimed ‘Distance Over Time’ album, also released that year. Featuring some of the most popular tracks from that record including ‘Barstool Warrior’ and ‘Pale Blue Dot’, as well as long-standing entries from Dream Theater’s esteemed catalogue including ‘The Dance Of Eternity’, ‘Peruvian Skies' and ‘Lie’. This release represents the most recently recorded entry into the series to date, and is once again an exhilarating insight into one of the latest chapters of the band's career.

Dream Theater have announced Distant Memories, a new live album recorded in London back in February 2020. It’s due for release on November 27th. The album captures the band on tour in support of 2019’s Distance Over Time and the 20th anniversary of Metropolis Part 2 – Scenes From a Memory. The title Distant Memories can refer both to the album’s content and the fact that it seems so very long ago, despite the performances at the Apollo in London taking place right before the pandemic hit.