Dream Theater announced new album ‘Parasomnia’ with Mike Portnoy and dropped the first single ‘Night Terror.’
“The wait is over! ‘Night Terror’ is out now and it’s the first glimpse into ‘Parasomnia,’ an album that represents not just our past, but our future. Watch the new video directed by Mike Leonard on the DT YouTube channel, link in bio/stories!” the band wrote on Instagram to introduce the song.
The group will release their 16th album, ‘Parasomnia,’ on February 7, 2025, through InsideOut Music. This is their first album with Portnoy since 2009’s ‘Black Clouds & Silver Linings.’ The album announcement follows news of their 40th-anniversary tour.
‘Parasomnia’ was produced by guitarist John Petrucci, with James ‘Jimmy T’ Meslin as the engineer, and mixed by Andy Sneap. Hugh Syme is back to create the cover art.
Dream Theater’s new album ‘Parasomnia’ spans 71 minutes, featuring songs like ‘In The Arms Of Morpheus’ and ‘The Shadow Man Incident.’ The album explores sleep-related issues like sleepwalking and night terrors.
Tracks such as ‘A Broken Man’ and ‘Midnight Messiah’ build on these themes. The first single, ‘Night Terror,’ is a nearly ten-minute song with a video directed by Mike Leonard.
The band had been teasing their new album for a few days. They shared teasers with each band member except Portnoy. They included the lyrics from ‘Night Terror’ with each video.
“If I’m being honest, I think it picks up right where ‘Black Clouds’ left off, to be honest,” Portnoy said of the album. “There’s a certain style that the five of us have when we write together.”
He continued, “And if you listen to the album with this lineup from 1999, ‘[Metropolis Pt. 2:] Scenes From A Memory,’ through 2009’s ‘Black Clouds & Silver Linings,’ if you look at that string of five or six albums, that’s the sound and style of these five people.”
“So I think that’s a good indication of what you can expect with the new Dream Theater album. It definitely sounds like classic Dream Theater,” the drummer added.
Dream Theater finished writing their new album in April. They’re preparing for their 40th-anniversary tour, starting on October 20 at The O2 Arena in London.
