Dream Theater/ Parasomnia


BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

Dream Theater/ Parasomnia 

Genre: Progressive metal

Label: Inside Out Music

Rating: ****

If one can have dreams, one can also have nightmares. The world of sleep is like a theater, filled with various emotions and disruptions.  Welcome to American progressive metal band Dream Theater's new album Parasomnia, which as the title suggests, is themed around sleep disorders.

For the Dream Theater fan, the album is significant as it marks the return of drummer Mark Portnoy after 16 years, since he last appeared on Black Clouds & Silver Linings. Though the interim replacement Mike Mangini was solid in his own way, Portnoy's comeback is a revival of the classic line-up of him, vocalist James McBrie, guitarist John Petrucci, keyboardist Jordan Rudess and bassist John Myung.

In the band's trademark manner, Parasomnia shuffles between songs of various lengths, from the one-and-a-half minute filler 'Are We Dreaming?' to the nearly-20-minute epic named 'The Shadow Man Incident'. The eight songs cover an hour and 11 minutes,, with Petrucci producing it himself and sticking to all the Dream Theater features from the shred-heavy guitars to the surprise theme changes

The album begins with the five-minute instrumental 'In The Arms Of Morpheus', a dedication to the god associated with sleep and dreams. It sets the tempo with some speedy riffs and drum spells. The next track 'Night Terror' defines the album’s concept, with lines like "Night terror, hysteria, nocturnal trial by fire, eyes open wide but I can't see, I can't see".

Another gem comes in 'Dead Asleep', a 11-minute beauty, with its stunning intro, marvellous guitar and keyboard spells, and the lines "Wake up, what have I done, I was dead asleep, wake up, can you send someone, I'm not insane, I was dead asleep".

While 'A Broken Man' and 'Midnight Messiah' have sheer energy, 'Bend The Clock' is a work of songwriting genius, with its fabulous build-up and the lines, "If I, if I could bend the clock, the passageway of time, leave it all behind, no more, no more paralysing dreams, the midnight screams always haunting me,but I sink deeper each day". Here, Petrucci comes up with one of his most melodic codas.

The 20-minute track is reserved for the end. With its cinematic intro, narrative style of lyricism and some smart time changes, it's very reminiscent of stuff from the earlier Dream Theater albums. It's a perfect finale on an album which is all about sleep and bad dreams, but actually keeps you wide awake with its brilliance.



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