OCTAVARIUM

It's been a long time since I had to review this album, almost since it went out the last year. Ocatvarium is, as a lot of people know, Dream Theater's last studio album, the follower of the heavy "Train of tought". I had a lot of expectatives to hear this album. How is it going to sound ? Will they return to their origins ? Will they do something new ? Well, I think this is somethig new, specially by the sound and the feeling of this album. It brings me to a dark atmosphere, with very overdistorted guitar sometimes and melancholic piano. This is really a change, a change that was needed, but I hope DT return to their origins on their next album. I must say, unforunately, here aren't shredding solos. Labrie's singing is quite different, not going so high as he used to on, for example "Images & Words". The guitar work of John Petrucci here is very different: the guitar is very, very overdistorted, not just on the riffs, on the solos too, maybe a more simple guitar playing. Here he doesn't shred so much. Luckily I can hear a lot more the bass, and it makes me happy as a bass player. Always there behind with very powerful notes. Portony's drumming is similar to their other works. Rudess here stands out a lot more, bringing excellent solos. A change to DT's musical direction.

The CD starts with "The Root Of All Evil": It starts off with the final piano note from "In The Name Of God followed by a rocker cool riff, very metallized. Sometimes during this song Labrie sings harder, more rocker. On the chorus it becomes more dramatic and melodic. It's the continuation of the Alcoholics Anonymous saga that began with "The Glass Prison" and continued with "This Dying Soul". Finishes with a piano melody that will be repeated then during the song "Octavarium".

"The Answer Lies Within" is the ballad of the album. By far the most simple song of the album and of DT's entire career. Very quiet, with no guitar (except for some notes during the chorus). The piano stands out. It shows the most melodic side of Labrie's voice. It's rare that the second song is a ballad, just like "Another Day" on "Images & Words". It's very evident that this song could be a single, very catchy, and maybe a "hit" on radio. I wouldn't like DT to have "hits" on radio ...

"These Walls" is the darkest song on the recording, by far: "Take out these walls for me, stop me of going under...". It depresses me a little every time I hear it. Very melodic on the chorus, with very powerful and overdistorted guitar on the background. It's noce the climax this song brings. A lot of atmospheres here and short but effective guitar solo in the middle.

The follower is the "hit" "I Walk Beside You". This is a typical rock song. As some reviews said before, this could be easily a U2 song, something I don't like too much ... Here aren't solos and it's the most commercial song of the album (it's a commercial song, no doubt). It's true that "The Answer Lies Within" and "I Walk Beside You", end up sounding too cheesy.

"Panic Attack" starts with a cool and fast bass line, and then explodes with a killer riff, extremely heavy, that blows away my head and makes me headbang. Very wild !! Portnoy's drums are very powerful here. The heaviest song of the recording. The solos in the middle are intense, very good instrumentation here. Here we have a more metallic Labrie. It reminds me a lot of "Metropolis pt.2: Scenes From A Memory". The effects at the end of this song are used as an intro to the next track.

"Never Enough" starts with synthetizer, that gives you an electronic music feeling, followed by a cool riff. Nice chorus here. On the instrumental interlude, a classical felling and fast solo, with keyboards and guitar at the same time. Then nice guitar solo, very dark.

The next song is "Sacrificed Sons", which is made in honor of the 11/9 victims. I really love this song, it has the feeling of their "past days". Starts very quietly, with a similar sound Floyd sound. Very melodic pre-chorus part. The instrumental interlude is very a la Dream Theater, getting heavier and heavier, with more tempo changes and excellent solos.

And here it is. The masterpiece of this album, the song "Octavarium". What can I say about this song ? I'd but this CD just for this song !! Nice, excellent epic, from the beginning to the end (the 24 minutes). It's divided in five parts, each one with a special climax, something I really like. Starts with a classical and symphonic piano-effects intro, with Pink Floyd's atmosphere and Yes's effects, really nice. I remind when they played this song live in Argentina, this "intro" was of almost 8 minutes instead of the 3 of the studio song, very good !! Then enters the acoustic guitar with a psychedelic feeling followed by that flute, that makes a delicious melody, which is repeated at the end of the epic. Then enter the vocals: "I never wanted ..." Up to the 11 minute, this track is very symphonic. My father liked it a lot, despite of he's not a metal lover. Then the drums end bass enter. Intelligent bass line !! The keyboard solo that comes next is amazing, because it has a happy/dark feeling. After this the heavy guitar enters and Labrie starts singing not so melodic. After this part starts the instrumental intermission, very a la DT, with ver fast guitar/keyboard solo. Another symphonic part, and changes, and chenges ... Close to the 20 minute it becomes heavier with whe wild vocals that surprised me a lot: "Trapped inside this Octavarium !! " The outro is mainly very melodic with excellent guitar solo at the end, to finish an excellent long song.

Overall, it's an excellent addition to any prog music collection, but not an album to start with DT if you hacen't heard of them yet.

Rating: 3.8/5