Dream Theater

Distance Over Time (InsideOut Music)

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Excellent)

For fans of: Metallica, Rush, Opeth

Distance over time is something at which progressive metal pioneers Dream Theater have always excelled. Their music has a tendency to travel far and wide, exquisitely orchestrated and embellished in their own unique style of heavy fantasia. While last offering The Astonishing ran into 130 conceptually complex minutes, this time they’ve scored something relatively concise, with even the occasional 4/4 time signature. Opener ‘Untethered Angel’ retreads some of the gothic majesty heard on 1999’s Metropolis... while the vocal melodies of ‘Paralyzed’ feel tailor-made to be sung back in the arenas of the band have been occupied for the past decade and a half. There’s a renewed sense of heaviness, too, most prominently on ‘Fall Into The Light’s Metallica worship and the doom-tastic weight of ‘Room 137’. Sacrificing none of that trademark musicianship this is Dream Theater at their most accessible, and they lose nothing for it.

—Amit Sharma