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I can honestly say this album is one of their better ones. The musicianship, as always, is top notch and this album is one you can really listen to for long periods of time. James is singing some amazing melodies, Jordan is playing very well, John and John are great as ever, and Mike's drumming is out of this world, but his singing...we'll get to that later. John P.'s guitar skill is very well shown off on this album, especially on the 1st and 3rd tracks. He shreds it throughout the album, but he also plays some very passionate, well executed melodies that soar through the songs. Mike's got huge drumming parts in these songs and John M. is there to back him up in keeping the rhythm section tight. All in all, the lineup on this album works.
The Music:
1. "In the Presence of Enemies Part 1"- This here is a great start to this album! The opening of it is very guitar and synth driven. It gets progressively heavier and heavier until a little bit of magic happens; they breakdown and John P. takes the slower speed to the next level with an amazing guitar solo that's not full of technical proficiency, but filled with long, flowing notes. This is very nice and is probably one of my favorite parts. It then goes til a silence and then John plays a faster riff that really sounds cool! Then we get into the song and it's very well done! I like this one!
2. "Forsaken"- The vampire subject of this song may seem a little odd and cheesy, but the music DT puts into this song pretty much makes up for that. I like the piano intro and then the guitar riff that comes in after. This song is very good and overall gives this album a nice tone to build upon. Nice song here!
3. "Constant Motion"- Ok, this song is probably one of their best singles (since the singles of Awake). It's also a killer song! I love the drive of this song! It's heavy, it's driving, it's solid, and it's pulled off very well! The guitar work on this one is very good! The drumming is very well executed on this one as well. Mike pulled this one off very nicely. His voice also fits this one. I don't care for his voice on some other DT songs, but I think that his voice makes the song work. Now, if you haven't heard this song, don't worry! James is singing lead; Mike harmonizes and sings a kind of duet with James. I think overall it's pulled off very well. Also the solos on this song are mind-blowing! While it does seem like they are dueling, it works on this song. This one is just a great song and they really blew me away with this one! Nicely done!
4. "Dark Eternal Night"- This one is interesting. I don't mind it, but I don't like it either. The riff is good, but the song itself...this is just one of those songs that Mike should've just kept his mouth shut on. His voice doesn't fit on this one AT ALL! It sounds HORRID! On top of that the instrumental break of this one is just really odd. It has 40's style piano sounds mixed in with the heavy metal vibe? I think this song is just too weird not to mention just bad. There are some good things that come from it, but they don't outweigh the bad.
5. "Repentance"- This song is slower and mellower than the previous ones on the album. It's also somewhat depressing to listen to, but that's the point of it. It's not too bad of a song. However: this song has a long instrumental section with lots of people providing spoken words. It just drags on. If the song stopped at like 4 or 5 min, It'd be fine, but they dragged it out to 10 minutes and it just doesn't work at that length.
6. "Prophets of War"- This song has a unique tone compared to the rest of the songs on this album. I personally like this song. I like the guitar work and the chanting. This one really isn't too impressive as far as DT goes, but I like it. It's a unique song in here and I find it to work. Way to go DT!
7. "The Ministry of Lost Souls"- My vote for best DT ballad of all time! This song is so good! You look at the length of 14:57 and think "oh no. another long song." but even so, this song is GREAT! The melody on this song is simply beautiful! There is a section around the 8 or 9 minute mark where the tempo increases and they do a heavy solo section, but it slows back down for the chorus and instrumental outro after that. I looked at the title and was expecting something heavy, in your face, and similar to "Constant Motion", but what I got was even better! It's a beautifully crafted ballad and James sounds very passionate on this one! John's guitar work on this one while not impressive in the technical sense is very good! Just the melodies that he plays and the passion he put into his playing makes it just simply amazing! Great song!
8. "In the Presence of Enemies Part 2"- This is the rest of the 1st track on the album. This part is full of amazing guitar licks and drumming stuff, but even so the 1st part is way better. I like this song. I find nothing wrong with it, but if the album would've just ended with the previous track, it would just be better. Part one is very nice and I personally think that Part 2 wasn't necessary. But again nothing is wrong with it, it's still good!
Verdict: This is a great Dream Theater album! This one has heavier songs that should impress fans of heavier metal, but also it features some of their best playing since "Images and Words" and "Awake"! The passion on this album is just inspiring! I think that people who say this album is uninspired should listen to it again because they have a lot of passion in this one! Go buy it now!
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