The Astonishing

Untitled

The Astonishing is the upcoming thirteenth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, which is expected to be released in early 2016.

Background

Dream Theater began writing for their thirteenth studio album in January 2015 at Cove City Sound Studios in Long Island, New York, where they had previously written the albums Train of Thought, A Dramatic Turn of Events, and Dream Theater. During writing, guitarist John Petrucci told Revolver Magazine, "The new album will be a further progression of the band’s creative identity ... Every time that we go into the studio, we always try to make something that’s better than the last. Everybody in the band has this kind of attitude where we love doing what we do, we’re very lucky to be able to do what we do, and we feel that the best is still to come." In August, James LaBrie began recording vocals.

In July, the band took a break from the studio to play some shows in Europe, but continued writing while on the road. Recording completed in late September, with mixing beginning the next month.

On 5 November 2015, the band launched a new website for the album. The top of the site has a heading that says "Characters" and features silhouettes of eight characters assumed to be involved in the overall story. There is also the beginnings of a map, assumed to feature the expanse of land on which the story takes place. The site also breaks down the track listing into two "acts".

Release

Dream Theater began their marketing campaign for The Astonishing in October 2015, prompting visitors to their official website to choose between mailing lists for "The Great Northern Empire" or "The Ravenskill Rebel Militia". Registrants were then notified of updates to their side's Twitter page as they occurred. In early November, the band announced that their thirteenth studio album would be titled The Astonishing and launched a promotional website that suggested it would be a concept album. They also announced some European tour dates in the fall of 2015, and that the album would be played in its entirety.

Track listing

Act I

1. "Descent of the NOMACS"
2. "Dystopian Overture"
3. "The Gift of Music"
4. "The Answer"
5. "A Better Life"
6. "Lord Nafaryus"
7. "A Savior in the Square"
8. "When Your Time Has Come"
9. "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 Revolution"

Act II

1. "2285 Entr'acte"
2. "Moment of Betrayal"
3. "Heaven's Cove"
4. "Begin Again"
5. "The Path That Divides"
6. "Machine Chatter"
7. "The Walking Shadow"
8. "My Last Farewell"
9. "Losing Faythe"
10. "Whispers on the Wind"
11. "Hymn of a Thousand Voices"
12. "Our New World"
13. "Power Down"
14. "Astonishing"

Characters

The Great Northern Empire

• Emperor Nafaryus

Ravenskill Rebel Militia

• Arhys (The Rebel Leader)
• Gabriel (The Chosen One)

Personnel

Dream Theater

• James LaBrie – lead vocals
• John Petrucci – guitar
• Jordan Rudess – keyboards
• John Myung – bass
• Mike Mangini – drums, percussion

Production

• Richard Chycki – Engineering and Mixing
• Jie Ma - cover art