problem with discussing topics like 'emotion' in music: its entirely subjective. theres no fucking definitve standard for it. i find some AAL extremely emotional, but on paper at least its technical and could be used for lessons bout music theory. but i agree shit like "wankery" "overly technical" is abused on sput way too often. mostly by pathetic trve purist and ridiculous music nazis. or ignorant oldschoolers. easily exposed by their ratings. or people that will say "yea its nice n all, but have u listened to xxxx?" when u show them new music. BITCH TRY TO FOCUS ON THE FUCKING MUSIC FOR ONCE.
those are basically ppl that are going to be grumpy and bitter old fags staring out their windows for the entire day once they get old. 100% certain

Album Rating: 3.0

this is being hailed as a vast improvement over recent DT and if that's true I shudder to think of how bad it was. This had its moments (mostly S2N, At Wit's End and Out of Reach) but everything else felt pretty generic.



ah well, band's officially in the "not for me" category

Album Rating: 2.5

Yeah, this was super bland. Not getting the hype.

Album Rating: 3.0

Yeah it's not particularly exciting by usual standards, but it's definitely the freshest I've heard since at least Black Clouds

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

This album feels more "natural" and groove oriented than the past few. That plays in it's favour

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah, there's palpable energy. The music may not be groundbreaking but the band definitely sounds reinvigorated. And there are some great jams on this.

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

Yeah, it doesn't feel meticulously crafted, with overly planned time signature changes, etc



Living in that barn together while eating Chef Petrucci's bbq food must have helped

Album Rating: 3.5

I thought I was done with these guys after Portnoy left. I'm glad they proved me wrong now.

Album Rating: 4.0

"Every one of these players are, like, nailing everything. Maybe I gotta make stuff harder." - John Petrucci, 2019



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je_ulo9Yp7Y

Album Rating: 3.5

^ LOL I just watched that myself.

Album Rating: 4.0

Regardless of how you feel about their music, how can you not be a fan of the man? Seems like a such a classy, genuine, chill, down to earth guy.

Album Rating: 3.0

Lmaooooo epic

Album Rating: 4.0

You can dislike DT for their recent output, that's cool, but each member has a long resume and career that more than speak for themselves.

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

For sure. Even if they've released albums that have frustrated me, these guys were my favourite band during undergrad. They were my gateway band. Opened my mind to explore loads of music styles

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

For real though, the final stretch of S2N gives me some strong Shattered Fortress vibes.

First two songs are good, the rest is pretty lame, save for the closer.
I wasn't really expecting to like this though. I've never been into DT, far too proggy for my taste and the vocals just rub me the wrong way. Always some good riffs to be found on their albums though and this one is no exception.

Album Rating: 4.0

I think they're not that strong at riffs though, more at melody and songs in general. If these things aren't good the songs end up being pretty lame

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

Listen to the new Darkwater guys. It's better than this.

Album Rating: 3.5

^ agreed. I was about to lose hope on the new Darkwater after 9 years, but I'm glad it's worth the wait. Darkwater's singer is just fantastic and I like their sound somewhere between DT, Kamelot and Evergrey.

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

Yea in my experience it's very rare for vocals to sound that good in prog. I actually love focusing on the vocals on that album. He's so versatile and he really leads the band admirably. Darkwater has a very unified sound and the amount of keyboard work is impressive. Reflection of a Mind in particular is an amazingly well written song. The album is direct and concise while still maintaining long song lengths. It's just really good prog with a lot of hooks and good choruses, to put it simply.