conclusion: an average album, with a few gems, and a horrible production. greatest surprise is john myunng. disapointments include a shitty drum sound (with a stellar drumming performance), dibious synth sounds (again, not criticising rudess ability. he can play, nuff said) and a nod to the 80s production in general that i could have lived without.
the album is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htfOvEO46ok&noredirect=1
1. "False Awakening Suite"
I. "Sleep Paralysis"
II. "Night Terrors"
III. "Lucid Dream" (Instrumental, music by Petrucci, Rudess)
A rather preachy intro. Arranged "a la elfman", but with a 80s black metal sound (read: cheap overcompressed drums and mid-heavy guitars, with really cold synth lines over).
The composition in itself is interesting tho, but the prod kills it for me. unnaceptable sound for a non-demo. 4/10
2. "The Enemy Inside" 6:17
intro is drum porn for slayer fans from the bosthaph era. guitars are greasy as fuck and there it fits well. still hate the drum sound. geez this is the worst sounding drums since st anger.
real cool sound from the bass. love that gritty distortion.
is it just me or labrie sounds like he is recording from a karaoke machine? the voice/music separation is kind of upsetting to the ear.
i can't understand the choices of sounds from ruddess. does he miss his 80s years?
all together, the compression makes that song sond small and dated. too bad coz it has some real badass moments in the uptempo sections. the chorus is just DT as usual.
how many times have they done the "slow portion with a shitload of strings" trick since scenes from a memory? 6/10
3. "The Looking Glass" 4:53
HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS WHO PUT A SCORPION TRACK ON A DT ALBUM!
4. "Enigma Machine" (instrumental, music by Petrucci, Rudess, Myung, Mangini) 6:03
ok this sound is just here to stay so i'll stop complaining. this is a cool track, which will sound a lot better live. i like the Q and A part between the hammond organ sounds and the guitar. it throws so many ideas in the air i don't really know if it is meant to go anywhere. might be the reason for the song name.
john myunng is probably as its grooviest in this album
5. "The Bigger Picture" 7:41
i miss the mix from the previous album with some good spatial separation of the arrangements. everything is so all over the its a little hard to hear what's happening.
nice little piano/vox intro. (and with a sound that doesnt make me vomit).
actually this is a pretty good song.
if you forget the drum sound.
6. "Behind the Veil" 6:53
filler. not bad but inot particularly great. except for a killer bass again.
7. "Surrender to Reason" (Lyrics by Myung) 6:35
i'm starting to wonder if this album was recorded between when dream and day unite and Awake.
there is so many winks at this era i wonder if they just didnt listen to the old stuff and thought "what could we do like that".
8. "Along for the Ride" (Music by Petrucci, Rudess) 4:45
bllluh. 1/10
9. "Illumination Theory"
I. "Paradoxe de la Lumière Noire"
II. "Live, Die, Kill"
III. "The Embracing Circle"
IV. "The Pursuit of Truth"
V. "Surrender, Trust & Passion"
and here is the fun song of the album. by far the best effort. loads of layers (messed up since everything seem to be ground by a blender in the mix), riffs a gogo and somehow the whole thing is coherent.
9/10
