We've known that Dream Theater will be releasing a new album called The Astonishing sometime in early 2016, though European fans will hear it before that given the band is playing it in its entirety live over there. We've also recently found out that the album will be a two-disc affair. Given the band's nature to generally be long winded (I'm a fan of it), you'd figure that the each disc would be between maybe 6 and 10 songs, right?
Wrong! The whole damn thing is 34 tracks!
Act I
01. Descent Of The NOMACS
02. Dystopian Overture
03. The Gift Of Music
04. The Answer
05. A Better Life
06. Lord Nafaryus
07. A Savior In The Square
08. When Your Time Has Come
09. Act Of Faythe
10. Three Days
11. The Hovering Sojourn
12. Brother, Can You Hear Me?
13. A Life Left Behind
14. Ravenskill
15. Chosen
16. A Tempting Offer
17. Digital Discord
18. The X Aspect
19. A New Beginning
20. The Road To RevolutionAct II
01. 2285 Entr'acte
02. Moment Of Betrayal
03. Heaven’s Cove
04. Begin Again
05. The Path That Divides
06. Machine Chatter
07. The Walking Shadow
08. My Last Farewell
09. Losing Faythe
10. Whispers In The Wind
11. Hymn Of A Thousand Voices
12. Our New World
13. Power Down
14. Astonishing
Given the incredibly expansive concept of the album and the fact that the band is very obviously trying to tell an intricate story here, this album has potential to be amazing… astonishing, even. That or really nerdy and terrible, though as a long-time fan I'm hoping for the former. Don't forget to check out the sweet artwork below too!
Here's what the band had to say about the artwork.
"This album cover extends an ominous invitation into the retro-futurist dystopian setting of 'The Astonishing'. The deceptively beautiful yet chillingly totalitarian image is a bold harbinger of the visual components and ideas presented by the sonic story that is our most ambitious creative work to date. We are very proud to soon bring you… 'The Astonishing'."
For all you Destiny fans out there, maybe this album is about battling Sepiks Prime?
