New Dream Theater scheduled for June!

[ForeverAutumn]

"Systematic Chaos" track listing

DREAM THEATER - SYSTEMATIC CHAOS

In The Presence of Enemies Pt.1
Forsaken
Constant Motion
The Dark Eternal Night
Repentance
Prophets of War
The Ministry of Lost Souls
In The Presence of Enemies Pt.2
Produced by John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy
Engineered and Mixed by Paul Northfield


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 8, 2007

WHEN DREAM THEATER AND ROADRUNNER RECORDS UNITE!

BAND AND LABEL JOIN FORCES WITH NEW STUDIO ALBUM PLUS WORLD TOUR TO FOLLOW

ROADRUNNER RECORDS is proud to announce the signing of progressive metal pioneers Dream Theater. A new studio album, Systematic Chaos is due in June. Dream Theater will hit the road in support of the album for a world tour, including major festival appearances in Europe.

Since their first studio release in 1989, this US based five-piece has notched up record and DVD sales in excess of six million and headlined to audiences of 20,000. Having undertaken seven world tours across 42 different countries, Dream Theater has established a live reputation that has swept them to arena-status around the globe. They have appeared alongside acts such as Deep Purple, Iron Maiden and Yes.

Recognized by peers and public alike for their advanced musical expertise, the band (Mike Portnoy, drums; John Petrucci, guitar; John Myung, bass; James LaBrie, vocals; Jordan Rudess, keyboards) has long held the ability to combine complex arrangements with unadulterated songwriting skills, the material often underpinned by riffs as heavy as anything in the Metallica repertoire.

"This album's got all of the elements we've become known for," reveals Portnoy. "The focus on musicianship, the skull-crushing riffs, the big progressive epics and the heart-wrenching melodies. We've got one of the strongest and most devoted fan bases in the world, and they should certainly be happy with the new material. By working closely with the label we hope to turn a great many new heads too."

"Dream Theater and Roadrunner Records have led parallel careers on the cutting edge of metal for many years," say A&R men, Derek Oliver & Dante Bonutto, "We're thrilled to be working with a genuine market-leader, and when you add everything the guys bring to the table to the independent spirit and work ethic of the label, the results can only be exciting in the extreme!"

Prior to teaming up with Roadrunner, Dream Theater was signed to a seven-album deal with Warner Music Group worldwide. The deal commenced with the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Images And Words (1992), a Gold-certified US release, and concluded, in equal style, with Octavarium (2005), a Top 40 Billboard outing. In August of last year the band issued Score, a live album/DVD (recorded at Radio City Music Hall in New York), which went straight to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard DVD charts, knocking Pink Floyd from the top!

By the following month, the five were holed up at Avatar Studios in New York, working on the new album with veteran engineer/ mixer Paul Northfield (Rush, Queensryche, Porcupine Tree). As usual, Portnoy and Petrucci chose to co-produce the project, which features seven compositions (one a 25-minute epic), and word on the grapevine is that the Dream Theater/Roadrunner alliance looks all set to kick off with a classic.

Systematic Chaos, Dream Theater's ninth studio release, arrives at a time when the band is casting a longer-than-ever shadow across the rock and metal landscape. Their influence is being acknowledged by an increasing number of contemporary, cutting-edge acts such as Stone Sour, Trivium, Shadows Fall, Opeth as their fan base continues to grow.

[likeitloud]

Thanks for the heads up FA, I'll be all over that! John Petrucci is sadly overlooked for
his innovation and style. And Mike Portnoy is on another planet, with Neil Peart!

[PeruvianSkies]

I've never heard of this band.... lol

[3-LockBox]

I'm in...

[kexodusc]

...and all was well in the world again.

[Dusty Chalk]

After Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, they are no longer a blank check band with me. I'm not even sure I've heard Train of Thought yet. I thought musically that 6DoIT was fine, but it was just too painful to listen to, production-wise. How was ToT? And I ask this of people who agree with me about the sound of 6DoIT.

[kexodusc]

6 degrees is probably my least favorite album. Didn't mind it, had a few good spots, but it gets the least play, except for maybe A Change of Seasons.

ToT sounded like a metal album, but without the cranked up bass total lack of dynamics that too many metal acts push for these days. Again, not the best, but no worse than, say, a Nine Inch Nails album or even something by Opeth.

I don't think this band has ever been the most polished in terms of production. 6 Degrees wasn't great, but I've heard so much worse than it definitely wasn't the production quality that soured me on it. They're middle of the pack when it comes to production value, that's for sure. Porcupine Tree is really the only modern day prog act I think is consistent in this aspect. I find their CD production way better than SW's work with Opeth, maybe that's just the intentionally recorded distortion from the instruments coming through? Lots of crappy recordings these days. Sadly, I think I've just started accepting it.

[Dusty Chalk]

I disagree. Listen again to Falling Into Infinity or Scenes from a Memory. Some damn fine production on those.

And I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say with Nine Inch Nails or Opeth -- that's some of the best production work in metal (and by mentioning "metal" and "Nine Inch Nails" in the same breath, I presume you mean Broken? That's actually a reference disk of mine). Are you saying ToT is that good?

[kexodusc]

Maybe it's just me but I some of the mixes from the 80's metal acts more than later on. Lately most CD's I buy have so much clipping it's become a joke.
Nine Inch Nails has always been quite good as far as production quality, Opeth I wouldn't consider among the best in metal in that area, but then maybe there's a lot worse modern stuff out there that makes it shine by comparison. But Opeth is consistently good work and I found TOT to be close to these two groups off the top of my head. I really can't think of many other decent production work in metal the last several years aside from those two groups off the top of my head. Tool I guess. But it's that kind of distorted, drum pounding crunchy metalish stuff and as far as that stuff goes for high fidelity, I'd say TOT is there with the bands I mentioned.

Whether you did the music or not, I dunno.

[Dusty Chalk]

You want to hear some really well-recorded metal, get both Garden of Shadows albums.

You do know that the last couple Opeth albums (Blackwater Park on) were engineered by Steve Wilson (or maybe it was produced?), don't you?

[kexodusc]

You want to hear some really well-recorded metal, get both Garden of Shadows albums.

You do know that the last couple Opeth albums (Blackwater Park on) were engineered by Steve Wilson (or maybe it was produced?), don't you?

Uhhh, yeah...see the SW (Mr. Wilson's initials) reference I made in post in 7.
FWIW, I find PT's stuff soundsa wee bit more polished than Opeth's SW stuff...dunno why.

Did SW do Ghost Reveries for Opeth too?

[Dusty Chalk]

I think that's the first one that he hasn't since Blackwater Park.