OCTAVARIUM

After deciding DT was the best band going after SFAM came out, then being disappointed by both SDOIT and TofT....I was a bit indifferent to the release of Octivarium. While I hoped for the best, I feared a further degradation. What I got....basically more of the same, which is both good and bad.

On the positive side....the song-writing is improved, the music is more varied than recent releases, and there are some truly outstanding moments. Like TofT the disc's highlight is song #1 The Root of All Evil. From the opening staccato drums to the slow-build intro to the crunching riffage just an classic DT song through and through. The introspective lyrics (third in the 12-step process Portnoy is going through) are also better than most recent output.

Other highlights, however, are buried in otherwise mediocre songs. For instance, Never Enough is an awesome song musically. The lyrics, however, are some of the worst rock superstar whining I've ever heard. Yes...Mike Portnoy gives 1000% of himself to DT fans and treats us wonderfully; fans couldn't ask more from their musicians. But let's face it...we've also given a lot back to Mike. He's seen the world and played in every imaginable setting. He gets to play music for a living. I don't know how wealthy he is but probably more than most any of us. The last thing I want to hear from someone who's basically lived a dream is whining about how hard or difficult it is or how no one appreciates what he does. If you're an artist people are going to criticize you....after 20 years you'd think Portnoy would know this by now. Oh....to answer the question, if you walked away I'd say thanks for giving us a vast library of great music and some of the best concerts I've ever attended. Good luck on the rest of your endeavors. And then I'd move on.

Other songs are equally disjointed...The Answer Lies Within is a decent ballad (something that's been missing last few releases) but never builds. These Walls is a good rocker, but not much more. I Walk Beside you has cool intro and good verse but chorus is pure cheese. Panic Attack is a regretful return to the wankery found all over TofT. Sacrifced Sons is just absymal, with terrible lyrics and dull, meandering music.

Finally, Octivarium, the 23-minute opus. In many ways, this combines the schizophrenia of all things in the latter part of DT's career. Yes, we get an epic prog piece with awesome musicianship. We also get some of the more imaginative lyrics the band has produced, stepping outside their usual territory. And we get one of the more emotional climaxes the band has ever produced.

Unfortunately it's packaged in a bloated song that contains a useless keyboard opening from Rudess (like most of his contributions) and some needlessly long, meandering transitions. I think a 15-minute version would have been a classic but this just has too much bloat.

All in all an interesting attempt at more varied sounds and textures but ultimately just more of the same from DT. In my opinion they haven't really come up with any new ideas or produced anything approaching their SFaM, ACOS or I&W days. Not a criticism, I still like them very much but just trying to judge them objectively.