Metal Reviews

More people on the forums = good, as far as I'm concerned.

Keep in mind, that was my first listen. I had a lot of beer earlier today, and I tend to be very random at that stage. I'll get another listen in tomorrow at work.

True. I hope it's not only to comment on DT though.

Drinking on monday? What's wrong with you!

They lost their creativity? I don't think so. Their movements in the songs have become more technical then they used to be, and the song structures have become more metal focused than previous works. (70s prog structured)

The phrasing of the solos in the old days was structured around individual melodies and time signatures strung together, and many of the passages were 'borrowed' from various prog bands. These passages weren't necessarily the most technical of pieces, but they fit together nicely and were executed flawlessly. The phrasing of the solos now is more compositionally favorable for the whole piece, rather than just a particular movement in a song. Bits of strange passages may sound like noise at a moment, but will eventually climax into a grand release. I think this may be Jordan Rudess's Juliard schooling coming into play, for the new structures are way more advanced.

Also, because their careers are based upon their ability to write complex technical music, they are obviously going to work for that end which will bring them further from the glorious melodies defining the music such as in the past.

Now at least they have their own sound, not trying to sound like Rush, Kansas, Yes, Styx, ect.

Great album!

and shattered fortress sounds like the other AA saga songs because the songs are meant to all be played back to back as one song!

Although I think DT are a great band, for me LaBrie was always the weak link for the band, he doesn't fit in all that well with the more metal direction of the songwriting. Whenever he puts on that 'attitude' voice it's quite embarrassing, case in point, that awful, awful live cover of Master of Puppets.

Good catch - I meant Six Degrees.

Try to refrain from telling us we have stupid nicknames and maybe we'll post more. Your name isn't exactly brilliant, by the way.


But with no solos, which I think was a BIG mistake on DT's part. The cover tunes disc is great, though.

Bonus CDs with instrumental songs is so lazy for a band, I think. I haven't listened to Dark Passion Play's all the way through, and I doubt I'll shell out extra here. Can you get the cover songs without the instrumental disc?

And yeah, obv. I love this from the score given. Pure Prog Metal bliss.

BTW, a warm welcome to all the new posters. Ignore the rednecks wondering where in tarnation y'all appearin' from.

I agree that a third "Instrumentals Only" disk is pretty pointless. As for the Covers CD, it's pretty good. But I think, when buying this album, I'll just stick to the Single CD version.

People who think they're getting a new Images and Words are flat out stupid. It's never gonna happen.

Album of the year is a little too much for me, I don't even know if it's gonna make the list. It's a very good album, but I don't agree that it's as great as some people says it is. The song-writing is weaker than on previous releases imho.

I'll echo that sentiment. I feel that this is a good strong DT release but not extraordinary in any sense. I don't even think I've heard a CD this year yet that I would dedicate to 'album of the year' status. I like the Heaven & Hell release and Derek Sherinian's latest too. Nothing has really struck me as being that great yet.

Mixed feeling about this one, sometimes I wonder what sort of band they want to be, MPs growls and death drums just seem out of place on the opener. It's better then Octavarium which is their worst imo. It does have it's fresh sounding moments but then there's things you have heard before.

DT's influence on others has given us some awesome other bands, many of whom are releasing better albums than recent DT CDs.

I think they are trying to make the music fitting to the mood of the song and the lyrics.

It wouldn't fit to play the "best of times" music to the "nightmare to remember" lyrics and the other way round.

Even the blastbeat part of ANTR fits, because the lyrics are dark, but on the other side, there is a very nice melodic part ("...Hopelessly drifting Bathing in beautiful agony...") and so ANTR has something for everybody.

PS.: But if I'm wrong and they are making first the music and then the lyrics, they just like to play sometimes a little harder. At least, they are progressive METAL, and so the metal was always there.

I completely agree. They've moved forward and don't seem interested in intentionally writing I&W part 2. It almost seems like they prefer more heaviness and solo duals in their music these days. I wonder if having Road Runner as their label has any influence over that?

Actually, they do write the music first. Portnoy has mentioned that a few times in interviews and what not.

I agree that they seem to like the harder songwriting style these days, but I do wish they'd try not to be heavy and focus more on solid song structures. The reason The Count Of Tuscany (minus the lyrics) is my favorite song off the new album is because it's more epic and has a solid structure without the solo battles. It's more "old school," if you will (reminds me of A Change Of Seasons).

Good point. For those who are fans of DT and Symphony X, check out a band called Myrath. They put a Tunisian spin on the music, but it's pretty good nonetheless.

I WALK BESIDE YOU!!

I need to check this out. Sounds like a step up!

They're all part of a whole. I agree that as a stand alone track it doesn't add much. But as part of the 12 step suite, it serves its purpose.

The album is basically just Systematic Chaos Pt2. Which is fine by me.

Lazy? That shit is brilliant for fans who are also musicians/singers. And I love the Nightwish orchestral CD. I listen to that all the time while writing.