| Product: |
Systematic Chaos - Dream Theater |
| Date: |
05/08/08 (3 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Plenty of hooks, heavy riffs and extensive songs to work through...
Disadvantages: Lyrics are embarrassing at times, some tracks are overly long
Systematic Chaos, Dream Theater's 9th studio release covers, yet again, a vast spectrum of musical ideas. As an ardent Dream Theater fan, I really wanted to enjoy this album as much as possible.
There are some excellent moments in this record. The opening track "In The Presence of Enemies: Part 1" for example is absolutely excellent - melodic, dynamic, full of energy and leaving the listener eager for part 2. "Forsaken", to me, feels a little too cheesey and predictable - there's not really any new ground covered hear. It's the Systematic Chaos equivalent of Octavarium's "The Answer Lies Within". "Constant Motion" and "The Dark Eternal Night" form a tight, heavy metal pair of tracks. The latter is one of the most monstrously heavy tracks I've ever heard from Dream Theater - from the opening riff you know you'd better prepare for a fully charged musical war!
Repetence, a 10 minute ballad, is excessively long in my opinion. Lyrically it's one of the stronger tracks, but the voice over section in the middle feels a little embarrassing to listen to. "Prophets of War" again has a rather cringe-worthy "crowd shout-a-long" moment with such cries as "Fight. The. Fear." It doesn't really inspire me at all. Thankfully, the listener is treated to "In the Presence... Part 2" at the end of the album. This is what I'd call "classic modern Dream Theater" - it's almost like Octavarium's little brother.
Overall, I feel this album is a little embarrassing. It seems to be Mike Portnoy that is really driving the "metal" direction of Dream Theater and, personally, I feel he is steering it towards a slightly cheesy world of "Dungeons and Dragons" in this album. "The Dark Eternal Night" is a prime example of some shameful "epic" songwriting - including such lyrics as "Grotesque creatures battle", "a sickening monstrous sight" and "drifting beyond all time, out of a churning sky". Hmmm...
Summary: A progressive metal showcase of technical skill... but lyrically weak
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