Band:	Dream Theater
Album:	Octavarium
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	June 07, 2005
Guest review by:	Arian Totalis

01. The Root Of All Evil
    1 - VI. Ready
    2 - VII. Remove
02. The Answer Lies Within
03. These Walls
04. I Walk Beside You
05. Panic Attack
06. Never Enough
07. Sacrificed Sons
08. Octavarium
    1 - Someone Like Him
    2 - Medicate (Awakening)
    3 - Full Circle
    4 - Intervals
    5 - Razor's Edge

Octavarium, being one of their more commercial albums (as a matter of fact I would say THE most commercial) it is possibly their worst release to date. However, even if it is their worst release, it is still a very respectable and enjoyable listen. As the name implies, Octavarium is their eighth studio release, and is just chalked full of radio friendly atmosphere. This doesn't stop it from being fun though, after all, these are the masters of Progressive Metal we're dealing with here.

The guitar on this album holds less of a presence in previous albums. Petrucci has some interesting rhythm parts, no doubt, but it seems to me that everything he does almost seems to linger in a sort of backdrop to the keys and vocals. The solos are good too, but I know he could have done better. Even if they were aiming to be more commercial with this album, they still probably could have had a lot more prominent parts in here for him, especially seeing as how he wrote the lyrics to a few songs on the album. Portnoy suffers from a similar syndrome, while the drumming could have been much better, it simply wasn't up to par with his usual performances. Does anybody remember the days when he would play "Dance Of Eternity" and blast out like a billion ghost notes a second? It's not like that any more with this album, it seems to have evaporated with the ages. The vocals on Octavarium though, are quite exquisite. I still don't know if I want to say that they are as good as past albums, but they are certainly well done. The tracks "I Walk Beside You" and "These Walls" are great examples of the power in LaBrie's voice. What is there to say about John Myung on this album? Well, the bass parts seem almost non-existent, but at least the track "Panic Attack" has a really nice bass intro to make up for it.

As far as notable tracks, the aforementioned "Panic Attack", has a very distinguishable bass intro, and is the most aggressive track on the album. Not only that, it also contains the darkest lyrics. Inversely, the lightest track on the album, "The Answer Lies Within" holds perhaps the most uplifting lyrics. With two contrasting lyrical themes here (hope and despair) it makes for in interesting overall listen.

This album isn't their best, and yes it's their worst, but that doesn't make it a bad album. It's still worth the purchase if you're a Progressive Metal fan.

Album Highlights: These Walls, Panic Attack, I Walk Beside You, The Answer Lies Within, Octavarium.