It's finally happening – Dream Theater is in the studio writing and recording their first new album with founding drummer Mike Portnoy since 2009. It looks like Portnoy has broken out his Siamese Monster kit from the Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence and Train Of Thought days too, which hopefully means we're getting some serious Dream Theater heaviness?
In a 2023 interview, Portnoy was asked if there's any chance Dream Theater would do a sequel to their 1999 progressive metal masterpiece Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory. Portnoy said the band didn't have any specific plans for new material at the time, so who knows how that's changed.
"We haven't talked about it yet, but that would be the obvious thing," said Portnoy. "But maybe because it's the obvious thing, we wouldn't do it. But you never know… It definitely would be fun to do, but I think, uh… I don't know. We're gonna start from scratch and reconnect and just go into the studio and live together. We're in a different phase of our lives. When I left the band 13 years ago, we were all in our 40s; now we're all in our 50s and 60s. It's gonna be interesting to see how we kind of exist now in this new world. So, yeah, I'm just looking forward to being with the guys and making music together again."
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last six months, you're aware of the announcement that shocked the progressive metal world last October – Portnoy and and Dream Theater are back together after a 13-year absence. Much has been said and written about it, from James LaBrie sharing the excitement about the reunion, to Portnoy himself explaining a bit about how it came to be.
