Dream Theater: James LaBrie (vocals); John Petrucci (guitars, background vocals); Jordan Rudess (keyboards); John Myung (electric bass); Mike Portnoy (drums, background vocals).

Additional personnel: Chris Jericho, Steven Wilson, Corey Taylor, David Ellefson, Joe Satriani, Jon Anderson, Mikael kerfeldt, Neal Morse, Steve Hogarth, Steve Vai, Daniel Gildenlow (background vocals).

While 2005's OCTAVARIUM notched back pure chops for a somewhat more song-oriented treatment, Dream Theater return to their hyper-progressive roots with SYSTEMATIC CHAOS. Opening track "In the Presence Of Enemies Pt. 1" launches the group's ninth studio album with fevered riffing and scorching guitar/keyboard runs. The fearsome fivesome do, however, make efforts to pace themselves a bit more during the vocal sections (as with "Forsaken").

Old school thrash metal stylings are channeled in the verses of "Constant Motion," while "The Dark Eternal Night" follows the heavier course dominant on TRAIN OF THOUGHT. The Pink Floyd-inspired "Repentance" carries forward drummer Mike Portnoy's focus on purging personal demons, while "Prophets Of War" delves into some new political territory for the band. From beginning to end on SYSTEMATIC CHAOS, Dream Theater continues to set the bar for all other prog metal bands.

Few bands in the history of rock have warranted the "either you love them or hate them" tag as much as Dream Theater, as fanatics consider them musical geniuses, while detractors sneer at their bombast. Either way, there's no arguing that the group has built a large and loyal following over the years by doing things their way, and with little to no help from radio or MTV. And on their tenth full-length overall (and first for their new label, Roadrunner), 2007's Systematic Chaos, the quintet sticks to the prog metal game plan that they've followed since their inception. In true Dream Theater fashion, the gentlemen are not ashamed to show off their chops -- as evidenced by the album opener, "In the Presence of Enemies, Pt. 1," in which James LaBrie's vocals do not kick in until after the five-minute mark. Elsewhere, "Forsaken" proves wrong those who say that Dream Theater is all about instrumental gymnastics and not songwriting, at least momentarily, while "The Dark Eternal Light" features some nifty Pantera-esque riffing from John Petrucci. Additionally, "Repentance" is one of the album's four ten-minute-plus, mid-paced epics, and features a prerequisite of countless extended prog suites and spoken word passages. Unlike other veteran rock acts that attempted to update their sound with the times (and failed miserably), Dream Theater has admirably stuck to its guns through thick and thin -- much to the delight of their legion of admirers -- and they continue to do so on Systematic Chaos. And for that, we salute you with a flurry of flawlessly sweep-picked arpeggios. [The 2007 CD/DVD edition features the entire album remixed for 5.1 Surround on an included bonus DVD.] ~ Greg Prato