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2011 has been a busy year for Steven Spielberg, specifically December. Super 8 was a collaboration with director J.J. Abrams that commingled much of the themes and styles of both filmmakers. For The Adventures of Tintin, Spielberg turned to Peter Jackson to assist with the motion-capture process in order to successfully adapt the colorful world of Hergé's Tintin.

Tintin (Jamie Bell) purchases an antique model of a sailing ship called The Unicorn just prior to two other men asking for the same item, a mysterious man named Barnaby and Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (Daniel Craig) and mysterious man named Barnaby. After Tintin and his White Fox Terrier Snowy arrive home and find The Unicorn model missing, the two find that the model clearly has more importance than they had originally assumed. Along with detectives Thomson and Thompson (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) and the boozed Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), Tintin sets out on an international adventure.

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Remembering the loves of our school days is a nostalgic pastime that typically does not go beyond reunions and occasional glances of the yearbook pages. Young Adult explores a woman struggling during her mid-life crisis and her delusional attempt to return to her high school sweetheart's arms. Screenwriter Diablo Cody and Director Jason Reitman have teamed up again since their commercial and critical hit, Juno. Where Juno followed the gestation of a sassy teenager, Young Adult is much harsher to endure as it reveals the destructive behavior of a woman moving into a new phase of her life.

Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) is about to begin ghost writing the last book in a young adult book series targeted toward teenage females. After receiving a birth announcement for the son of her former high school sweetheart Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson), she is unable to concentrate on writing. She impulsively travels to her home town of Mercury to win him back, even though he is happily married and committed to his new role as a father. Mavis was one of the cool kids back in the day, but her return to town reveals her inability to mature. She finds some solace when she befriends an old classmate Matt (Patton Oswalt) who is permanently injured from being targeted in a hate crime during his and Mavis' senior year.

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Ben Sommer’s new self-produced album Super Brain features a more polished release than america’d, but offers much of the same DIY sentiment and angst towards politics and consumerism. The album lacks a central focus, but I see this as sign that Sommer is growing as a musician, but this release only has the seedlings for what could be something to watch out for.

Although “Young Turks” features the signatory style of Sommer, it fails to lead off as a strong opening track as it feels as if it was somewhat unfinished. “Consumerism” begins a trilogy of ‘isms’ including “Militarism” and “Cadaverism”, all farces that target the constant hustle of shopping during the holiday seasons, shit-kicker slogans such as “Don’t Mess with Texas”, and what I’m guessing is a parody of electronic heavy metal.

Super Brain has an increased amount of Zappa influence, more so that his previous effort. It is nice to hear such an influence at the forefront of Sommer’s work. But after a certain point, the influence loses its luster and becomes an unflattering pastiche. “De Profundis” is another egregious example, although it also contains a heavy Rush presence. There is hope with Sommer’s more original fare such as “Fist” which seems to have Sommer keeping it simple and easy while finding a decent pocket to flex his muscle. The instrumental “Dark Grey Matter” will test your speaker’s higher frequencies but the track seems to be a lone wolf when compared to the rest of the album’s offerings.

It helps that—for a self-release—the mix is superb and all instruments are heard efficiently. Sommer does in fact compose songs that have epic tendencies lasting only a few manageable minutes, although some still run rather long. Sommer has done an ample job mixing and producing the album. What would really be a treat is if Sommer could get his brand of progressive rock out into the open and on stage.

Sommer maybe on to something with Super Brain, and he has certainly shown some musical and lyrical growth from his last release. The content of the album is everywhere giving Sommer a chance to comment openly about issues beyond politics, but the mental and physical shape of America. Despite this variety, Sommer becomes lost in his own revelations. His music is meant to be funny or at least offer some sort of comic relief. Even the most educated have to back away from most biting satires and say “sad, but its so true.” At this point, it is no longer funny. That is exactly what Sommer has done here, he has shown that we can make biting comments in song form about serious subjects for so long before the seriousness comes to the forefront. In that case, Sommer is on to something.

Sommer has marked his second full-length effort with a cover of Foster The People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” found in his self-produced music video:

Ben Sommer – Super Brain is a post from: ProgSnobs, a progressive rock and progressive metal review blog.

Long before the film industry commodified editing and created an cinema of obviousness, cinema was short and static. Edison and the Lumiere Brothers had invented machines that could only capture life as it were for only small, intimate moments. Their inventions allowed for only short moments of life to be captured on static cameras and exhibited to a world both scared and joyful of this new modern discovery. We have become so reliant on film editing and specific narratives to understand certain films that most theater fare is designed to keep you content. Film students are suffocated with three act structures, inciting incidents, and pay offs, thinking that all films are formulaic, and must be so forever and ever.

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The discussion of director David Gordon Green's career in the past five years has already been discussed before with the release of Your Highness. Green's first several films had a sincere style that portrayed the American working class in local spheres that were low-middle-class at best. Since Pineapple Express Green's films have been more and more raunchy, scatological, and targeted toward more mainstream demographics. Watching the decline of a promising artist become a cog in the Hollywood machine is too much to bear anymore. The Sitter is a forgettable foray into uninspired territory.

Noah's (Jonah Hill) passive-aggressive lease on life has gotten the best of him. His romantic interest refuses to return sexual favors and his mother pleads with him to get a job. In order for his mother to enjoy her hot date, Noah agrees to babysit for a family friend. Slater Pedulla (Max Records) is a loyal high school GAP customer who suffers from heavy anxiety attacks and wonders why his high school friend refuses to answer his text messages. Blithe Pedulla (Landry Bender) is ready for the glamorous life as a celebrity and yearns to grow up before her time. Then there is Rodrigo. Adopted by the Pedullas, Rodrigo is a firecracker who is not afraid to fight or drop a cherry bomb into a toilet. Noah's love interest Marisa (Ari Graynor) promises intercourse if he can deliver cocaine to her, and Noah decides to take the kids along for the ride.

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For their tenth album Opeth has taken a different approach by summoning Mikael Åkerfeldt’s 1970s progressive rock influences. Heritage is an ode and celebration of a time in rock history where technical prowess and grandiose concepts reigned. This overt homage has the signature brand of progressive fusion Opeth had always had, but this time its the forefront style.

“Heritage” lays the groundwork for the eerie mood with a soft piano ballad, but merely a calm before the storm. “The Devil’s Orchard” is the first example of Opeth’s new venture and is an immediate standout track. The song takes no prisoners with its nostalgic melody that leads up to the iconic beckoning in the chorus: “God is Dead”. Other standout tracks include “The Lines in My Hand” which as a killer bass-line that shows the band’s musical dexterity in this experimental phase in their history.

Nearly all the songs showcase the prog rock/death metal fusion that Opeth had always had a clever grasp on, a beloved talent that took them to the top of the death metal scene. “Häxprocess” and “Famine” reaffirm the album and the band’s commitment to both poles of sound they have created over the years. “Folklore” rounds out the album with an epic song that truly captures everything that Opeth is about; epic stories and themes that match the dark and eerie moods. “Marrow of the Earth” takes the album back around to an acoustic and electric guitar ballad that returns to many of the album’s themes and sums up the album with aplomb. The contrasting nature between the piano-driven opening and predominately guitar-driven closing explains that the beginning is not too much different than the end, but that was indeed a metamorphosis in the story, and perhaps for the listener too.

For those who disappointed in the release, what I assume to be primarily traditional Opeth fans, this direction was inevitable if you are acquainted with their long career. Mikael Åkerfeldt has been contrasting the clean with the dirty for over fifteen years. Yet, the even for the classic Opeth fan, there is still the style and tendencies that makes Opeth standout among many metal and prog fans. For Heritage, Åkerfeldt has mixed the two poles of the band’s sound for something right down the middle.

The album features the return of the post-production services of Steven Wilson who also produced their acoustic outing Damnation. Wilson has become the go to man for progressive and cinematic mixing; his stint with re-mixing both stereo and surround sound releases of King Crimson albums should be enough evidence that he has the chops to touch this vulnerable Opeth material. A team up between Åkerfeldt and Wilson (formerly with Mike Portnoy) had been fueling for some time, but in the meantime, Heritage will do. It is cinematic and moody like a Porcupine Tree album, but stoic and heavy like a classic Opeth release.

This album has thoughtfully composed grooves that are indeed rocking but evoke moods and feelings not unlike any Opeth album before it. Opeth is not oblivious to their own heritage. This mashup between their signature sound and their nostalgic walk down rock and metal memory lane. Their tenth album will certainly mark the band’s evolution. Instead of plateauing after critical and commercially successful releases such as Ghost Reveries and Watershed, Åkerfeldt took a deep look inside and chose to give a look back to the music that influenced the Opeth sound. They have toned down the speed and death metal tropes for a straight up metal album where the heaviness found a sweet space between nostalgia and experimentation. Heritage is an album that has shaken a few feathers, but is an epic release that will provide a slew of songs that will surely come alive during the subsequent tour.

Opeth – Heritage is a post from: ProgSnobs, a progressive rock and progressive metal review blog.

Haken broke on to the progressive metal scene in 2009 with an exceptional debut release and critical hit, Aquarius. Haken returns after only two years to present their second album, Visions. This sophomore effort retains and progresses the fresh and motivated style that will surely give them momentum for the future.

The appropriately named “Premonition” begins like any epic album would, an instrumental overture that builds off the momentum that Haken’s debut Aquarius had build up. Furthermore, it gives us insights to some of the band’s more experimental riffs heard later in the album, like an overture, and especially like a premonition. “Nocturnal Conspiracy” introduces us to the album’s story and does so with a killer, fat melody and composition that changes gears often and with prestige. The song also introduces the listener to the album’s concept; a man has tracked down and killed someone based on visions or dreams they had before.

But the story takes a drastic turn with “Insomnia”, which begins with a straight-forward melody that takes a more complex route after the first chorus. Here, our main character suffers from insomnia and possibly hallucinations while awaiting what appears to be the death sentence. “The Mind’s Eye” has a gracefulness that Haken seems to be able to pull off naturally and transitions into the progressive and technical instrumental “Portals”, which musically expresses the main character’s struggle becoming more oppressive.

“Shapeshifter” is a stellar track with a powerful hook for a chorus with some similarities, when it comes to the composition and song structure, to “Drowning In The Flood”, one of the more disappointing tracks off Aquarius. However, “Shapeshifter”, with its hair-raising chorus, it is one of the standout tracks, second only to the epic album closer. The main character in “Deathless” is beginning to envision his eventual death. This contemplation and ode, matched by the hybrid-ballad form and the instrumental section led by an intriguing bass line.

“Visions” brings the album back around to sum up all the imagery that the previous songs has built up to. The concept of dreams, dreams within dreams, and déjà vu are as prevalent as ever. The song is of epic length, coming in at twenty-two minutes and taking no prisoners. The song explores, in progressive fashion, a plethora of musical genres and styles to reflect the untrustable visions and dreams that the main character has. The song is one of the grandest, heaviest, and most satisfying epics of this length. Haken has re-written the rules of epic progressive metal songs, I doubt anyone will ever catch up.

The album sounds terrific. The instruments are richly layers, and they have to: Visions has a concept that depends on narrative layers and disguises. The music bombastic and grand when it needs to be. The songs are constructed without being overbearing or abusing the talents these musicians have for each other. No instrument stands out over the other, instead, they conspire to deliver an album and narrative that will certainly become beloved over time.

Haken’s sophomore release solidifies the band’s grandiose brand of progressive metal with downbeat social or magical realist tales. Their style evokes an expressionism that is rarely seen in the genre these days, and they do it with an innate nonchalance. Few bands have been able to pull off what they have done in their first two albums. The defined themselves without closing the gate, pushed the boundaries further in a shorter amount of time, much shorter than the giants of progressive music did so. What takes other bands years and several releases to reach, Haken did it in two albums in two years. They produce music that celebrates how modern progressive metal can tell fantastic narratives and explore complex, romantic concepts without being cliché or overbearing. Visions lands in what seems to be a massive year for progressive rock and metal releases. Yet, Haken almost immediately takes back the spotlight and shows incredible promise for the future.

Haken – Visions is a post from: ProgSnobs, a progressive rock and progressive metal review blog.

Alexander Payne returns to exploring the quirky moments that life throws at the unsuspecting. The Descendants is a comedy-drama that is difficult to laugh at because the issues at hand are so delicate and heavy, but it does not help that more conflicts arise without warning. This 2011 Indiewood film plays with mixed emotions as a male in the midst of a mid-life crisis dives deeper into new,y formed crises.

After Matt King's (George Clooney) wife is critically injured in a boating accident, leaving her in a coma, he must assemble his two daughters and extended family during this difficult time. Both daughters are rebelling in their own way; Scottie (Amara Miller) has been acting out at school and towards other children and Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) has been irresponsible at her boarding school and has not spoken to her mother in months. Matt and his family descended from a long line of Hawaiian royalty and is the sole trustee of the family's Trust. In a few years the Trust will expire and Matt is responsible for choosing which developer will be sold an untouched plot of land.

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Martin Scorsese is not one to make family films, let alone produce films on anything but celluloid. Yet, Hugo is just that, a family film shot on digital and available in 3D. However, the film’s content is about the love of cinema and an early case of the necessity of film preservation. These oppositions allow this 2011 fantasy to muster up all sorts of issues and topics, even if it not about the main character’s struggle.

After his father (Jude Law) dies in a museum fire, Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) is taking in by his uncle who is responsible for maintaining the station’s clock. Both Hugo’s father and uncle are expert watchmakers and mechanics, and their talents have been passed down to Hugo. Hugo is puzzled by the automaton that his father was working on prior to his death, of which Hugo believes has a message to him from his father. After a chance meeting with George Méliès (Ben Kingsley) who owns a toy store in the station, Hugo befriends Méliès’ god daughter (Chloë Grace Moretz). Together, the two collaborate to fix the automaton while circumventing the station’s Inspector Gustlav (Sacha Baron Cohen).

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Modeled after the 2008 economic meltdown, Margin Call is a fictional account of a large investment bank realizing that by morning their company will have failed several times over. This independent film features many major talents portraying characters who represent those who are responsible for our country's economic collapse, yet never saw it coming.

A large investment bank has laid off a large portion of its staff, including a high-level risk management employee, Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci). Dale hands off a USB flash drive to his protege, Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto), asking him to finish the work and warning him to be careful with the data. Peter indeed finishes the data, calling over his co-worker Seth Bregman (Penn Badgley) and his superior Will Emerson (Paul Bettany) to glance over what appears to be a model of the financial collapse that has already begun to take place. This event creates an overnight crisis for the company, requiring trading floor manager Sam Rogers (Kevin Spacey), Chief risk manager Sarah Robertson (Demi Moore), and CEO John Tuld (Jeremy Irons) to consider all possible scenarios before sunrise.

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Ever since I first read of the tragic and brutal death of Ayrton Senna I had interest in one day producing a narrative motion picture. No need. Senna is a comprehensive documentary that commingles footage from Senna's decade-long career in F1. No new interviews were conducted, Senna's life is told as it happened using the media that pre-existed. No shoulda, woulda, couldas; as Senna would have liked it.

Ayrton Senna, like many drivers, began in go karts, often times vicariously supported by their fathers. Most auto racing stories begin this way, but Senna breezes past this fact quickly in order to get to Senna's entrance into F1. During his formative year he drove for a low-tier team, yet he showed a highly competitive nature and methodology where there was first place or nothing. For the rest of his career he found himself as an immediate competitor to Alain Prost, who would later become a teammate, and would remain a rival for the rest of Senna's career. Although successful, Senna found that politics within F1 would dictate many of the important decisions that would alter the championship on many occasions. Senna continuously pressed for more safety measures in the face of stubborn F1 executives who barely acknowledged or admitted any inferior safety practices in their series.

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Butter is a farce placed in high gear and aimed directly at breadbasket America's conservative hypocrisy. This 2011 film with an ensemble cast never says sorry and attempts to blasts many of the political and religious sentiments that exist throughout America's current media outlets. Using what would typically be a banal competitive hobby, butter sculpting, this film constantly pokes fun at a barrage of characters who never seem to realize how ridiculous their actions are.

Destiny (Yara Shahidi) has shuffled from foster home to foster home with little hope until she finally lands in the hands of Jack and Jill Emmet (Rob Corddry and Alicia Silverstone respectively) who are ready to provide the unconditional love Destiny always needed, and even supports Destiny's interest in competitive butter sculpting. Her hero, Bob Pickler (Ty Burrell) is a champion butter sculptor who has been pressured to hang up his carving tools just as his wife, Laura (Jennifer Garner), chooses to pick up where Bob left off after she catches him with a prostitute Brooke (Olivia Wilde) who was stiffed by Bob. Destiny, Laura, Brooke and a fanatic butter sculpting fan (Kristen Schaal) compete in a regional butter sculpting contest, each with their own goal in mind.

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The Duplass brothers have slowly but surely moved their way into the American indepdent sphere, first with films that made use of the DIY sentiments, and now with higher budgeted Indiewood releases. Jeff Who Lives at Home has many similarities to the Duplass' previous effort Cyrus, but shows growth not only in the directors choice of material, but also how they execute the film.

Jeff (Jason Segel) lives in the basement of his mother's home. After taking a bong hit, he answers a phone call where someone is looking for Kevin. He then recieves a phone call from his mother, Sharon (Susan Sarandon), who asks him to perform one simple errand or risk being kicked out of the house. As Jeff begins his errand, he sees the name Kevin and meets people named Kevin nearly everywhere. Jeff's brother, Pat (Ed Helms), is struggling through a failing marriage, and coincedentally, joins Jeff in a search for Kevin, or something.

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The millennial transition found America with several high-profile massacres at high schools and colleges around the country; Columbine and Virgina Tech being prime examples. The film industry has portrayed such phenomenons several few times, with Gus Van Sant's Elephant being the most well known. Now we have We Need to Talk About Kevin, which offers a more cognitive depiction of how a manipulative monster grows and then explodes. This 2011 independent film is one of few to show that these teenagers are often times deranged from the beginning, and their manipulative ways are ghastly and unpredictable.

After Kevin (Ezra Miller) is arrested for performing a massacre at his high school, his mother Eva (Tilda Swinton) looks back on the formative moments and childhood of her son, and struggles to assimilate back into society. Kevin's manipulative relationship with Eva, and later his sister, is contrasted with his relationship with his father (John C. Reilly).

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Chaplin famously said that life is a tragedy in close-up and a comedy in a long shot. Roman Polanski's Carnage flips this saying on its ass and takes a page from Mike Nichols' typical four-person character stories. This is the first film Polanski has made after his arrest in Switzerland and subsequent release, and the claustrophobic themes from Polanski's life and previous films have returned.

Penelope and Michael Longstreet (Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly respectively) invite Nancy and Alan Cowan (Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz respectively) to their house to discuss a physical altercation between their sons that resulted in the Longstreet's son losing a tooth. At first, the four agree to a statement, but the Cowans never seem to leave and the Longstreets never seem push them out the door. For nearly 80 minutes, Polanski offers a hysterical roller coaster ride of emotions that is essentially a lovely train wreck that neither you or the characters can look away from.

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Franchise reboots today most often have egregious profit motives that reduce the films to a mere product. Then then are reboots that augment yesterday's traditions and focus on what the product is about. The Muppets falls into the second category and returns for a self-aware reboot that looks to the past and points to the future of the beloved franchise. Written by Jason Segal (who also stars) and Nicholas Stoller, The Muppets offers both long-time and new fans a chance to reconnect with an American classic that typically makes its way back to the silver screen every-so-often. It also does not hurt that the film is well produced and is a fantastic musical to boot.

Walter is a muppet who is unable to acknowledge his own muppet ancestry and inadvertently discovers The Muppets and becomes their biggest fan. Along with his brother, Gary (Jason Segel) and Gary's girlfriend, Mary (Amy Adams), the three take a pilgrimage to The Muppet studio for a tour. Walter eavesdrops on a conversation where Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) plans to exploit a loophole in The Muppets' contract, allowing him to take advantage of an oil reserve beneath the studio.

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Another Happy Day was a darling at this year's Sundance, and for good reason. Filled with drama that often turns to comedy faster than you can realize, there is a accuracy and realism to the dysfunctions that exists between a large family that reunites for a wedding. This 2011 independent film has one of the most perfect and dynamic casts in a long while, and the performances are stellar.

Lynn (Ellen Barkin) is a mother who struggles with raising her children and having to navigate through the gossip and fingerpointing her extended family places on her. Her teenage son, Elliot (Ezra Miller), abuses both all forms of drugs an alcohol, fueling his aggressive behavior. Her youngest son, Ben, has mild Asperger's syndrome and has taken filming his family through his video camera. Lynn is excited to be reunited with her two children raised by her ex-husband (Thomas Haden Church) and his bimbo wife (Demi Moore). Alice (Kate Bosworth) is recovering from deliberate self-harm through cutting, and Dylan (Michael Nardelli) who is getting married, the reason for Lynn's return home. Lynn's arrival at her parents home is turbulent from the beginning. Her father's health (George Kennedy) is deteriorating gradually, enough to spark near-nightly ambulance visits. Lastly, Lynn's mother (Ellen Burstyn), continuously blames Lynn for the family's problems on Lynn's ego.

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Known for bringing in top notch music and many independent bands on the rise, Bardot has become one of the more popular music venues in Miami. I had the pleasure of coming out to see The Dropa Stone perform at Bardot Miami on Thursday September 22nd.  Bardot’s long room decor with unique artwork, stylish couches and a great sound system was a great environment to see the band.

One can best describe The Dropa Stone as having a a solid experimental rock foundation, while sprinkling in progressive grooves with seeds of  blues, reggae and funk.  I was immediately struck with the strong musicianship and passion the band performs with. The band rolled through strong originals and even performed a  funky version of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” which got the crowd dancing. The vocal and guitar interplay between Jon Meyers (vocals & guitar) and Justin Henry (guitar) was a breath of fresh air to watch, while the rhythm section Will Richey (bass) and Joe Lederman (drums) held it together with some really tight grooves. The set showcased their original  music with some spirited jams. The crowd loved every minute of it and there is anticipation for their next Miami show.

The band has a new album coming soon and fans can check out some new music at their web site: www.TheDropaStone.com.

The Dropa Stone rips through Bardot Miami is a post from: ProgSnobs, a progressive rock and progressive metal review blog.

John Arch’s contribution to Fates Warning and to early American Progressive Metal is unquestionable. A Twist of Fate was a two track EP that reunited Arch with Fates Warning and OSI powerhouse Jim Matheos in 2003. The EP was a wonderful release at the time, merging Matheos’ growth and maturity in guitar work and songwriting with Arch’s high falsetto with introspective and personal lyrics. This year, Matheos had majority of the next Fates Warning album ready to go, but with Ray Alder unable to commit (possibly due to Redemption’s forthcoming release, This Mortal Coil), Matheos turned to Arch and the current Fates Warning lineup, renamed the project Arch/Matheos, and recorded and released the material found on Sympathetic Resonance.

“Neurotically Wired” takes no time to present the sound that Arch/Matheos attempts to project. It is the Fates Warning sound that we’ve come to love with a freshness to the composition that gives even the most casual fan a chance to explore the the new material with an open mind. The aptly titled “Midnight Serenade” is a lovely song that harkens back to X, but also has the most similarities to an OSI song. Both the lyrics and the music match the title, having a serenade-like construction. It is also the catchiest tune on the album.

“Stained Glass Sky” begins with a bombastic three minute instrumental that could have easily stood on its own. Instead, the section is attached to this epic song, clocking in at close to fourteen minutes. The album retains much of the classic Matheos signature guitar style that developed in contemporary Fates Warning and OSI releases. Yet, there are moments on the album where there are slight returns of the early Fates Warning sound. Even better, when the two collide, as they do in “On The Fence”, it takes the concept and entity of Arch/Matheos to a whole new level.

“Any Given Sunday (Strangers Life Me)” has a pounding rhythm that is constant for much of the song until a softer interlude, again, returns to early Fates Warning roots, and finally coming back around with a melody that layers the electric melody over an acoustic rhythm. “Incense and Myrrh” concludes the album on a softer note, acting more like a ballad straight out of a post-No Exit Fates Warning album. Like the other songs, it winks at the past while exploring the possibilities of the current line up.

As with most Progressive music, the singing may be the most difficult part to absorb. For those familiar to Arch’s high, stylized falsetto will find that he has been able to keep his unique and distinguished voice after four decades. Furthermore, why did Arch never find his way into another band, other than his early 1990 audition for Dream Theater? Regardless, Arch’s talents reach beyond his vocal skills. Arch’s lyrics return to some of the fantastical and mythological themes and symbols used in early Fates Warning albums. Here, Arch brings his wisdeom that comes with age, and incorporates it with his signature thematic style.

Lest we forget, the amicable contributions from bassist Joey Vera and drummer Bobby Jarzombek which round out and support the signature style that makes places Sympathetic Resonance as an off-shoot of the Fates Warning enterprise.

Similar to how Black Sabbath and Dio’s contemporary outings were dubbed Heaven & Hell to distinguish between the two Black Sabbath vocalist led eras has similarity to this reuniting of Arch and the current Fates Warning lineup. As much as I would have rather had a new Fates Warning album (X was released six years ago), this is a welcomed release and collaboration between two central progressive metal figures. Sympathetic Resonance may be the album progressive metal fans have been waiting for for nearly twenty-five years. The title matches the contextual condition of this release and production, or as Wikipedia defines it: “a harmonic phenomenon wherein a formerly passive string or vibratory body responds to external vibrations to which it has a harmonic likeness.”

Arch/Matheos – Sympathetic Resonance is a post from: ProgSnobs, a progressive rock and progressive metal review blog.

I have chosen to stay quiet regarding the divorcement between Dream Theater and Mike Portnoy since last Autumn. I am still befuddled by the event as I have been fan for almost 15 years now and it was a difficult moment for me, and I’m sure, many others. At the same time, for several releases now, I’ve been indifferent to the direction the band has gone in. While still my favorite band, I’ve lost the romanticism I used to have.

I did listen to “On the Backs of Angels” once when it was first released, but refrained from additional listens, as well as the other snippets that were revealed in the past few months. I have chosen to give A Dramatic Turn of Events its own unstained listen on a pristine vinyl edition. The past several Dream Theater albums have taken months of repeat spins for me to make a determination on where the album fits for me. A Dramatic Turn of Events is the first Dream Theater album in many years that has only required a handful of repeat spins to come to a positive conclusion. The first listen left me intrigued, repeat listens have shown that this is indeed a welcoming direction for the band.

Note: This review includes the songs in order as they appear on the vinyl edition.

“On the Backs of Angels” returns to the Gothic tendencies that Rudess has been experimenting with in the past several releases. The keyboards and guitar are excellent and the song exhibits some of the youthfulness that the band has lost over the years. The song takes its time to let the music and lyrics speak for themselves, and the guitar solo is soulful and filled with Petrucci’s signature sound. The song stands on its own and is a refreshing opening track. “Build Me Up, Break Me Down” is the typical Dream Theater song on the album designed for radio play; easy to edit, easy to consume. Each verse begins with electronic/nu-metal tendencies, which feels a little bit like a cop-out. The song is overly produced, and the weakest of the album. It is merely Dream Theater’s signature chance to make a simple song that relates to a mainstream audience.

“Lost Not Forgotten” features a heavy opening that is classic Dream Theater. A chaotic opening instrumental allows the members to flex their muscle, even if it is a tad egregious. The lyrics are mediocre, they simple do not entirely fit the excellent riff in the verse. The song certainly redeems itself in the second verse and the solo, making for one of the more clever epics in the band’s catalog. “This is the Life” examines the personality differences. It is certainly a song that attempts to have an epic wall-of-sound production value that ignites some urgency towards the end.

“Bridges in the Sky” is one of the best Dream Theater songs in many albums. A full, rich bass line, exact and precise lyrics, and a wonderful journey make up this epic. An unconventional opening for a Dream Theater song that is reminiscent of the creatures from The Dark Crystal, beckoning the the spirit to place the listener into the necessary trance the song evokes. It is eerie, and I’m scared shitless. It immediately shifts to a heavy musical introduction that is just a fuck-ton of awesome. Excellent verses and chorus with a classic Dream Theater instrumental that has Rudess providing one of his best solos in some time. What is fantastic about the instrumental is how easily it transitions right back to the chorus. This is the Dream Theater that I can be proud of, one of the best Dream Theater songs in many, many years.

The members of Dream Theater are not strangers to political songs, and “Outcry” returns to their stance of being objective observers of major events and issues. The song easily provokes images of the Arab Spring, where multiple Islamic-based nations are or have under gone revolutions. Such images can easily match the control that Portnoy had over the band (of which Portnoy does not disagree). Another tradition among Dream Theater albums is the ballad, and “Far From Heaven” has the common piano and strings ballad structure that efficiently builds to a peak that denies a lift off point, and instead returns to the sorrowful melody that began the song.

“Breaking All Illusions” returns to a progressive groove and becomes an eerie verse, not like any Dream Theater song I’ve heard before. Finally, some progression. The longest song on the release, it has potential right from the beginning, and the band certainly makes use of the momentum from start to finish. The song, while having moments of uncanny Dream Theater moments, had an enjoyable air of “Trial of Tears”. While “Far From Heaven” offered the conventional Dream Theater ballad, “Beneath The Surface” returns to some of their roots in power ballads. For a closing song, it is perfect as it harkens back to the downbeat nature of “Space Dye Vest” off Awake. So many Dream Theater albums in the past have ended with mind-blowing epics, it is nice to have a succinct ballad end a Dream Theater album after all these years. It completes the album, but offers a lyrical and thematic direction for the next album to take.

Some press materials have John Petrucci proclaiming that the lyrics in the songs do not reflect the departure of Mike Portnoy, I do not agree. I will note that I have taken a readerly position and say that much of the lyrics, and of course the title, all point to Portnoy’s departure and the events that took place afterwards. We cannot forget the title itself A Dramatic Turn of Events is a not only a wink at the situation, it harkens back to some of the album titles for Genesis such as …And Then There Were Three…, giving the album a sense of self-awareness.

The instrumental breaks in this album have been some of the best compared to past years, even if they are surrounded by variations of a formulaic verse-chours-verse. But Dream Theater still suffers from the instinct to have a commonality between the songs on other albums. There is always the ballad, a song designed for mainstream attention, the objective political song, and of course the epics. This may be a new direction for the band, a promising one in fact. But the predictability of the songs is testing my patience.

The stand out tracks for this release “Bridges in the Sky” and “Breaking All Illusions” feature the specific Dream Theater tendencies that have made them who they are, yet point towards the progression that has been lost in previous albums. A Dramatic Turn of Events is a clear indicator that Dream Theater has embraced a new spirit while clutching to the tropes that have appeared on previous albums. This new release is not at all a totally renewed path for the band, but a step in the right direction.

Dream Theater – A Dramatic Turn of Events is a post from: ProgSnobs, a progressive rock and progressive metal review blog.