Review Summary: If you want an album which gives you the pure shade of what Dream Theater can do with the metal genre, look no further
This is Dream Theater's
Master of Puppets, it's their metal master piece and in summary is dark end to end.
It opens with As I Am which is a classic song in the sense that it's structured like one (intro/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus/outro) which is unusual for DT up to this point when this album came out and considering that the lyrics are quite ironic as it's talking about being taken as is, the band is not like the other bands out there in the metal genre but they can do it like them. The song has an 'Enter Sandman' riff that rides the songs theme very well.
The second song is This Dying Soul which is the second in the AA suite of Mike Portnoy's. It punches you right in the face with a 7-string riff that won't let up from the opening 4 notes to the last chord. It has the largest chromatic sequence at the end to finish what is a very dark song.
Finally, you get a breath and the album changes pace with Endless Sacrifice. This song is about being on the road and away from family which was written by John Petrucci. Probably the fan fav on the album with the opening clean guitar to a catchy riff. Then it gets to the instrumental section and it really is just that; instruMENTAL. It carries through into a very built up outro which perfectly finishes off the masterpiece.
The 4th song on the record is as dark as DT can get with both metal and lyrical content. Honor Thy Father has no guitar solos and has one of the heaviest riffs they've written to date. They dropped the tuning down 2 whole steps to C alike to As I Am (first song) and the last song on the album (In the Name of God). The lyrics are about Mike Portnoy's step dad and in his words, it's the anti-stereotypical "love song", instead it's a hate song. Personally, it's my favorite on the record and has some rapping on it which actually works quite well (some on This Dying Soul too).
After the brutal 4th track, it's brought down a gear with the 5th track, Vacant. This track is purely vocals, piano, bass and a cello. The lyrics are written by James LaBrie the singer regarding loss. It's a beautiful track and one which is very atmospheric for sure.
The 6th track picks up with Vacant's theme in a half step down Orion type riff. This is the instrumental track from the record and showcases what DT do best and that's write an instrumental that has passages that work to complement each other. It's a half step down tuning (again similar to Metallica) and has a classical style to its structure especially during the outro.
The last and 7th track on the album is In the Name of God and this is a work of art from start to finish. The opener is a stomping riff you feel like strutting to. The lyrics are by John Petrucci and talk about cults and how they can take lives. It has some of the most diverse section of playing and has a very anthem feel until the very last piano notes trialing off in a very spooky way.
It's a very short album compared to Dream Theater's other work but it's quality that's been compacted into each of the songs.
