OCTAVARIUM

As always, the new DT album gets ratings from 1 to 5 stars. After reading previous reviews, it's easy to see that people that already liked DT in the past find this one an excellent addition to their work. The critics mostly seem to be people that didn't like DT before and won't like them in the future. And that's not strange at all, since this album gives listeners everything that DT stood (and stands) for: melodic harmonies, heavy riffing, progressive solos (mainly by Jordan) and lots of variation (something that I missed on Train of Thought). They've returned to a mix of songs ranging from poppy (the excellent 'I walk beside you') over heavy ('The root of all evil') to damn-fine prog ('Octavarium'). I must add that I personally like the soundscapes between the songs and I was pleasantly surprised by the 'Pink Floyd'-influences in the title song. This song is a true masterpiece, I'm looking forward to hearing it live. Conclusion: this is probably one of their best albums so far, but DT will will not convince the non-believers with this album (and no future release will do that either).

Belgian Dream Theater Fan