Dream Theater have announced details of their 16th studio album, their first since drummer Mike Portnoy re-joined the band last year.
Entitled Parasomnia, it marks the first new music from the band's classic and most revered lineup of guitar wizard John Petrucci, James LaBrie, John Myung, Jordan Rudess and Mike Portnoy since 2009's Black Clouds & Silver Linings.
Its release, on February 7, 2025 (via Inside Out/SonyY Music) coincides with the North American kickoff to the band’s 40th anniversary world tour.
In a true Dream Theater–styled appetizer, the band has released a video for the nearly 10-minute lead single, "Night Terror," which can be viewed below.
Portnoy’s split from the band was well-documented. In 2010 he temporarily joined Avenged Sevenfold to help them finish and tour their breakthrough album, Nightmare, following the death of drummer Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan.
When he tried to return to Dream Theater, he was informed that Mike Mangini had filled the drum position, following an exhaustive audition process in which seven world-class drummers tried out. Dream Theater's Mangini-era comprises five albums, including the 2016 rock opera-esque The Astonishing, and a 2022 Grammy award for "The Alien."
In the meantime, Portnoy’s relationship with his former bandmates continued outside of Dream Theater. In 2021 he reunited with Petrucci, Rudess and Tony Levin for a third album as Liquid Tension Experiment, the prog-metal supergroup they formed in 1997 — their first album in 22 years.
Afterward, Petrucci teamed up with Portnoy to cover the James Bond theme live in 2022, as part of the tour supporting the guitarist's 2020 solo album, Terminal Velocity, on which Portnoy was also featured.
Speaking to Guitar World before the launch of the 40th Anniversary Tour — which kicks off at London's O2 Arena on October 20 — the guitarist said he was looking forward to having Portnoy backing up his monstrously technical riffwork.
“My relationship with Mike Portnoy is similar to my thing with [Dream Theater bassist] John Myung,” Petrucci had said. “We were at Berklee together, so we were 17, 18. We played in a band together for 25 years and did everything together. We have an ingrained chemistry."
Petrucci also told GuitarWorld.com he anticipated taking a different direction with the new album. "To me, making a new record is an opportunity to kind of say, like, 'All right, what haven't I done before?'" Petrucci said. "What can I do that's gonna be interesting to me, that's gonna sort of make me excited?' And usually, if you start out with that kind of goal, it'll happen. You'll come up with stuff. You'll explore.."
Parasomnia features nine songs, closing out with "The Shadow Man Incident," which, at just shy of 20 minutes long, continues the band's trend of ending their albums with epic tracks. From all appearances, Parasomnia — the name comes from a sleep disorder that can include sleepwalking and night terrors — will be a concept record. The songs "A Broken Man," "Dead Asleep," "Midnight Messiah" and "Bend the Clock," alongside the dark and bombastic lead single, are all said to expand upon the theme.
The new album was produced by Petrucci and engineered by ‘Jimmy T’ Meslin, with Andy Sneap reprising mixing duties, having mixed its predecessor, A View from the Top of the World.
Speaking to Guitar Player, John Petrucci, who launched a signature collection of speaker impulse responses through his company Tonemission last year, has offered his 10 top tips for guitarists. He cited advice from Journey's Neal Schon and warm-up hacks from Joe Satriani as crucial to his guitar-playing routine.
Dream Theater's 40th anniversary tour kicks off in London on October 20, with the South American dates beginning in December. The U.S. leg commence in Philadephia on February 7 (Parasomnia's release date) and concludes in New York on March 22.
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