Review Summary: This is a great album. It could very well wind up being a Dream Theater classic.
Systematic Chaos is the 9th studio album by Progressive Metal giants Dream Theater. It was recorded during the winter of 2007 in New York City. This is the start of a new chapter in Dream Theater history as drummer Mike Portnoy has stated. Their live DVD of Score marked the end of their first 20 years and as Portnoy has pointed out, (and I paraphrase) “an ending of one chapter of DT history”. At that time it was not clear what direction Dream Theater would take. Now that the album has been released and the band has announced their signing with RoadRunner Records, it is evident that this album is heavy and dark when compared to other Dream Theater works. Don’t let RoadRunner scare you away though. Mike went into this knowing he wanted this album to “have balls” and the album was finished before they committed to any label. This means that RR Records had no influence over the writing of this album. This is purely Dream Theater doing what they do best.
The first thing you will notice during the first listen of this album is, is that it is dark. It is also heavy, but there are mellow moments and these moments are very relaxing and reflective. A prime example of this is the song “Repentance”. It is the 4th installment of Portnoy’s AA series. It is not a heavy song, but it is very dark, melodic and in a strange way, very soothing. While this isn’t my favorite song off the album, it does have my favorite guitar solo off the album and it is one of my all time favorite Petrucci solos. This isn’t a shred solo and it is full of emotion. This solo is just more proof that Petrucci isn’t merely just a robot that many Dream Theater haters claim him to be. In addition to the Petrucci solo, there are some other things that make this track stand out and that is the voice samples picked out by Portnoy and the piano playing by Jordan Rudess. It isn’t his most technical performance and like most of the album, he takes a slight step back. His work on this song is very atmospheric and really helps set a helpless and depressed tone to the song.
I am not a fan of vampires to be honest. Vampire movies bore me and the mallcore kids who love them just piss me off. “Forsaken” is a song about a vampire. That may sound corny, but they pull it off well. The music is superb and LaBrie does an amazing job. It is a great song that is a good transition from “In the Presence of Enemies Part 1” to the rest of the album. It isn’t the best song on the album, but it is far from the worst. The same goes for “Prophets of War”. The intro is very reminiscent of Muse. For some people this may be a problem, but I actually like their Muse influence showing through here and there. On this song, Portnoy allowed 50 fans into the studio to perform chants (on a side note, I almost made it in. I was number 55; I got some good buffalo wings down the street though to cheer me up). The fans they allowed in really did a great job and their aid really helps give this song its character. The other stand out point of “Prophets of War” is the guitar riff that Petrucci devised that is used under the chanting. The riff is pure genius and fits very nicely. Both the guitar riff and the chants help give this song its power and might.
“Constant Motion” and “The Dark Eternal Night” are the two songs released by the record label to help promote the album. I beg you not to judge the rest of the album by these two tracks. These songs are good, but in my honest opinion, are the weakest off the album. “Constant Motion” is a fun song to listen to but what saves this song from mediocrity is the guitar solo and chorus. The chorus is just so catchy and is done without loosing the heaviness that the song contains. “The Dark Eternal Night” on the other hand does not have a high-quality solo. While it is technically impressive, it just gets boring fast. I loved the shred fest solos found on Train of Thought and I find this to be dull. If you hated Train of Thought, you will most likely skip this track once the solo kicks in. Vocally this song is it and miss with me. The dual vocals with LaBrie and Portnoy are immense, as is the chorus. The vocals right after Portnoy and LaBrie dual are a little odd though. They aren’t bad, but the way they are sung makes it feel forced and this hurts the song overall.
Now that I have covered the two worst, and I use that word very loosely, we shall cover the two best songs. “The Ministry of Lost Souls” is a song of epic proportions. Everything about it is just gigantic. There is even another smooth solo by Petrucci that is full of emotion. One of my favorite things about this song is that it mellows out at just moments before peaking again. This helps keep the song interesting until the instrumental section begins. This instrumental section really is outstanding and helps kick the song up a gear. It may not be on the same level as the instrumental section in “Metropolis”, but it sure is close. If it wasn’t for the long instrumental section, I could actually picture this song being played on rock radio to be honest with you (I don’t mean that in a bad way either). The vocals are top notch and the music is beautiful. This is one of LaBrie’s best performances on the album. Everything about this song is strong and it does not get boring.
I have decided to review “In the Presence of Enemies part 1 and 2” as one song. It was written as one song and split up afterwards during the mixing process. The reason for the split was because Portnoy loved the way it closed the album; he also loved the strong beginning it gave the album. They closed Octavarium with the title track, which is also one of their 23 minute epic songs, and they did not want to repeat that. However, if they opened Systematic Chaos with the entire song, then Portnoy believed it may take away from the rest of the album. The decided to bookend the album with these now two amazing songs. “In the Presence of Enemies Part 1” is a good opener; however, the intro of the song is lacking. It just kicks off at full speed. I like it when Dream Theater uses a gradual introduction to help build the suspense of what is to come. Octavarium’s “The Root of All Evil” and Train of Thought’s “As I Am” are great examples of this; “In the Presence of Enemies Part 1” does not have this. The good news is, is that was my only complaint of this song and it isn’t a very major problem at all. The rest of the song, both Part 1 and 2 and simply amazing. I cannot say how it compares to their other epic songs yet (A Change of Seasons, 6 Degrees of Inner Turbulence and Octavarium), but I can say it is one of the best songs Dream Theater has ever written. Part 1 is great and after listening to it, you will think that Part 2 cannot top it. I am telling you right now, you are in for a real surprise.
Individual Track Ratings:
In the Presence of Enemies Part 1: 10/10
Forsaken: 9/10
Constant Motion: 8/10
The Dark Eternal Night: 7.5/10
Repentance: 9/10
Prophets of War: 8.5/10
The Ministry of Lost Souls: 10/10
In the Presence of Enemies Part 2: 10/10
Pros:
Great work instrumentally and vocally. Everyone is on top of their game.
Epic songs which are very memorable.
Some great guitar solos that display what we love about Petrucci, as well as solos that show his versatility.
A long album (about 72 minutes) so you will be listening and enjoying it for a long time.
Cons:
The solo in “The Dark Eternal Night”
A poor opening to the cd; the songs good, but the intro is lacking.
Some of the vocals on “The Dark Eternal Night”
This Message Edited On 06.05.07
