Dream Theater released their sixteenth album, “Parasomnia”, in February 2025 via InsideOut Music — their first after Mike Portnoy‘s return to the drum stool, 16 years after 2009’s “Black Clouds & Silver Linings.” Blabbermouth described it as “an absolute triumph” and the return of the magic of their classic records.
Country: USA
Genre: Progressive Metal
For fans of: Opeth, Haken, Queensrÿche
The listen
With the opening “In the Arms of Morpheus” erupting with Portnoy’s trademark, octopus-like fills, the new era has officially begun: “Parasomnia” is heavier than the majority of the band’s post-split records, and above all it shows how much Dream Theater are enjoying themselves. Instead of a radical departure, we get a partial return to the sound of their early records (“Awake,” “Images and Words”), with years of extra creative experience stitched onto every grand, intricate composition.
“Night Terror” is the perfect snapshot of Dream Theater in 2025: epic, adventurous and pointedly heavy — it sounds like the good old days, renewed and full of intoxicating, shared energy. James LaBrie has rarely sounded more aggressive, while Petrucci and Rudess deliver outrageous performances. “Dead Asleep” and “Midnight Messiah” continue in the same vein with steel riffs.
The close comes with “The Shadow Man Incident,” an epic that works like a potted greatest hits of the band: from a hushed, bittersweet beginning and a punchy interlude that winks at Holst’s “The Planets,” to wonderful orchestral passages. Dream Theater never really left — but with “Parasomnia” the magic of their early classics is everywhere. “Welcome back, annoyingly talented guys,” Dom Lawson concluded.
Tracklist
1. In the Arms of Morpheus
2. Night Terror
3. A Broken Man
4. Dead Asleep
5. Midnight Messiah
6. Are We Dreaming?
7. Bend the Clock
8. The Shadow Man Incident
See also
Opeth – The Last Will & Testament · Mike Mangini in Godsmack: The replacement of the year
