[trainCatcher]

Artist: Dream Theater
Album: Systematic Chaos (Special Edition)
Version: Dolby 5.1 Mix
Performance: 8/10
Sonics: 9/10
5.1 Mix: 8/10

This is Dream Theater's ninth studio album and the first that includes a surround sound mix. For those of you not familiar with DT, they are a progressive rock/metal band known for their high level of technical skill. They are a thinking man's pre-black album Metallica. Their song's are frequently long (7-10 minutes), use odd time signatures (7/8, 19/16, etc.), and complex. Many instrumental sections use musical phrases from other songs, thus providing conceptual links within their musical catalog. The musical heart of the band consists of lead guitarist John Petrucci and drummer Mike Portnoy. Keyboard maestro Jordon Rudess, bassist John Myung, and vocalist James LaBrie round out the rest of the band.

After the conclusion of their epic 8th album, Octavarium, DT's fan base was very curious about the direction the band would go. Octavarium's cover art and album sub-structure suggested the future held a U-turn in DT's musical progression - maybe into the heavier style of their 7th album (Train of Thought). The new installment, Systematic Chaos, however, is close in style to the 8th album. The album contains a good mix of prog, shredding, and melody. The band has continued to mature, as evidenced by Mike Portnoy continuing to realize that less can be more. Lyrically the album touches on a variety of topics - alcolism, hyperactivity, war mongering, and vampires. Yes, this album takes a step closer to wizard rock, ala Symphony X.

All the songs are fairly consistent. The songs are indicative of great band synergy and there is plenty to like in each song. The album starts out strong with "In the Presence of Enemies Pt.1" The instrumental section in the beginning gives overview of the flavor of the album. The aggressive track 3, "Constant Motion", is about hyperactivity and is very reflective of Mike Portnoy's personality. It moves pretty quickly and has Mike Portnoy keeps the instrumental section in the middle of the song moving along with a a mix of dynamic beats. Other musical highlights on the album are Petrucci's guitar melodies on the seventh track "Ministry of Lost Souls." Very beautiful. Though some of the songs are long, none of them seem especially bloated.

The 5.1 mix is descent - I much prefer listening to the album in 5.1 over stereo. The mix uses standard tricks to add a sense of open space to the album. Background vocals are frequently sent to the surrounds and occasionally pan across the room. The drum set is mixed pretty well across the front three speakers, giving you a nice 3D picture of the set's layout. The bass drums sound pretty awesome. There is no subharmonic mixing, so you won't feeling 16Hz, but there is plenty of pop when Mike rattles of 16th notes on the double bass drum. The DVD also contains a documentary which shows the recording sessions with commentary from the band members. The documentary is quite enlightening and is a valuable addition to the DVD.


If you never liked hard rock, you'll probably not like this album. However, if you're an audiophile and like the heavy stuff, I'd strongly consider picking up this mix of Systematic Chaos. The 5.1 mix is worth the extra few bucks for the album. If you like what you hear I recommend listening to some of DT's other albums. Awake and Train of Thought are probably slightly better albums than this latest installment.