In a recent conversation with Dream Theater Argentina, Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci opened up about the band’s ongoing “An Evening With Dream Theater” run. The tour features the group performing their latest album, Parasomnia, in full, along with the complete seven-part composition “A Change Of Seasons”, marking the first time they’ve revisited the piece in full since Mike Portnoy’s return in October 2023. The setlist also pulls in deeper cuts and longtime fan favorites from across the catalog.

Reflecting on how things have gone so far, Petrucci said (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net): “Yeah, well, we started the Parasomnia leg after the summer in the U.S., in the fall. And it’s been great. It’s been a lot of fun doing something different and creating a visual world of Parasomnia. We really try to make it so that the fans that come to the shows are really transported into the world of Parasomnia. And it’s been a blast being able to play it in its entirety. And it’s cool. I mean, it might be a little self-indulgent [laughs] — it’s a whole new album — but, to us, [it’s been a lot of] fun.”

He also pointed to the audience response as a major highlight. Petrucci noted that the reaction from Dream Theater fans has “been fantastic. It’s been great. We just played Friday night in Mexico City to a big, big arena crowd there, and we opened that show with the Parasomnia album,” John said. “And it’s essentially all new music, and the fan reaction was incredible. It was over the top. It was just as if we were playing deep cuts. So, very satisfying. Yeah. Very, very cool feeling.”

Looking ahead, Dream Theater have confirmed that their April 22, 2026 performance at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile will be recorded and filmed for a future Blu-ray release. When asked if that changes his preparation, Petrucci kept it straightforward: “Well, really, the best thing is if it doesn’t shift at all. You have to sort of approach it like… First of all, every show, we try to put everything into it, put our best, have our best performance. For me, the best mentality is it’s just another show. Don’t get too worked up about it. Don’t get too anxious about it. That’s the best approach. Because otherwise, yeah, you can kind of drive yourself a little crazy.”

He added that past filmed performances have come with some unfortunate timing on the health front. Petrucci commented: “Something keeps happening to me, which is a bit annoying, that I keep getting the worst-timed illness right before we film. Yeah, it happened to me many times. I’ll never forget the ‘Score’ DVD from Radio City [Music Hall], I was sick as a dog. And then the Paris Blu-ray [‘Quarantième: Live À Paris’], I got something horrible a couple of days before. I was on stage with a fever, but… I don’t know why that [always happen]. [But] it’s, like, the show must go on, right? So hopefully for Chile I will be okay.”

Parasomnia, released on February 7, 2025 through InsideOut Music, was produced by Petrucci, engineered by James “Jimmy T” Meslin, and mixed by Andy Sneap, with artwork once again handled by Hugh Syme. The album runs eight tracks across 71 minutes and was recorded at the band’s DTHQ studio in Long Island, New York.

It follows 2021’s A View From The Top Of The World, which landed in the top 10 across Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Rock Albums, and Independent Albums charts. Much of Parasomnia leans into extended compositions, with six tracks passing the seven-minute mark, and the closing piece “The Shadow Man Incident” stretching close to 20 minutes.

The post DREAM THEATER’s JOHN PETRUCCI Calls Full “Parasomnia” Performances “A Blast” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Whenever I hear a bassline that I like, I just kind of freeze and tune everything else out. A great bassline can stop me in my tracks. That’s what happened when I hit play on Spacemoth’s new single “Do We Exist?” The weirdly funky little bounce of a bassline is the first thing that we…

The post Spacemoth Announces New Album <em>Inward Eye</em>: Hear “Do We Exist?” appeared first on Stereogum.

Crank those decibels, baby!

Many a hard rock icon seemed destined to underground cult status due to the changing musical tides of the early 90s, with the likes of Slaughter and Blue Murder being among the more prominent examples of bands that were a little late to the party and swimming against the wave crashing out of the Pacific Northwest.

Early 90s AOR upstarts Hardline seemed another entry into this club of bands that had all the right moves but hit the field in the wrong decade, featuring the talents of famed Journey guitarist Neal Schon and Bad English bassist Todd Jensen alongside the project’s masterminds vocalist Johnny Gioeli and brother/guitarist Joey Gioeli, not to mention a signature formula and melodic splendor that would have conquered the mainstream were it to have come to light a few years earlier. But perseverance can conquer even the most overwhelming of adversaries, and following a brilliant run with Frontiers Records, this elder hard rock staple has unleashed their heaviest entry yet under the SPV/Steamhammer banner in Shout!

Much of Hardline’s present vitality owes to the keyboard chops and production expertise of Alessandro Del Vecchio, who has refocused their signature 80s AOR sound into something more modern and in harmony with the power and pizzazz common to most of Frontiers’ ever-expanding roster. One can’t help but note that while Johnny Gioeli’s raspy roar remains a dead-ringer for his work with Axel Rudi Pell, yet the music surrounding him has taken on a character that is far less tied to the aforementioned project’s retro production tendencies, despite still being steeped in 80s stylings.

The tight display put on by the rhythm section, consisting of drummer Marco Di Salvia (an occasional fellow traveler of Del Vecchio’s) and bassist Anna Portalupi, plays an equally vital part in shaping this album into a towering golem of sound. But the variable that puts this entry in a distinct and more metallic place compared to their prior outings with Frontiers Records is the guitar work of Blaze and Doro axe-slinger Luca Princiotta, laying down riffs that are at least as heavy as anything in Pell’s extensive catalog.

Though definitely a sizable step into new sonic territory for the Hardline brand, Shout! is an album that plays to the same compact, concise formula that has been the rule since the 1992 debut, Double Eclipse, emphasizing infectious hooks with a straightforward approach. Obligatory up-tempo bangers like “Rise Up” and “I’m Leaning On It’ tap into that 80s magic something fierce and find Gioeli’s sleazy snarl in comfortable territory, with Princiotta’s flashy riff work tilting things dangerously close to mid-80s Ozzy Osbourne territory.

Likewise, though the opening title entry “Shout!” commences with the usual cinematic largess that Del Vecchio likes to adorn his productions with, the heavy punch of the guitars that drives things along carries an uncanny Jake E. Lee-like character rather than the more rhythmically static approach typical of a Magnus Karlsson or Aldo Lonobile in a format like this. Even when things get heavy enough to rival Judas Priest, like on the pummeling foray “Welcome To The Thunder”, the synchronicity established between Luca’s busy guitars and the dense atmospheric backdrop caters perfectly to Gioeli’s signature wails.

Naturally, this isn’t an album based solely on impact-based aggression, but it’s uncanny how even the more stylistically mixed offerings of this opus find themselves back in that same sonic place at key points. The more anthem-based rocking approach of “It Owns You” and “Candy Love” splits the difference equally between keyboard-steeped AOR and 80s Sunset Strip-inspired sleaze rock, functioning as de facto throwbacks to the early days of the Hardline name, but are also tailored in such a way as to fit perfectly into the heavier aesthetic of the rest of this album.

The more melancholic and piano-driven semi-balladry of “Mother Love” tugs at the heartstrings a fair bit both lyrically and melodically speaking, yet once that explosive chorus lands Princiotta’s metallic edge has its say. A similar story is told in a more nuanced and almost progressive way on the down-tempo epic reinterpretation of Scorpions‘ song “When You Came Into My Life,” and the serene acoustic entry turned shuffling hard rock monster “Rise Above No Fear”. The only all-out exception to the rule of raging rock with a soaring voice on top is the closing ballad “Glow”, which offers an extremely poignant message of love and loss with Gioeli opting for a more intimate setting of a lone piano line accompanying his powerful pipes.

While Shout! also presents a sound that is a far cry from the vintage 80s AOR sound that typified Double Eclipse, it definitely draws more so from the mystique of that era than anything else they’ve put out since, and provides a more aggressive and uncompromising metallic edge that is sure to prove far more palpable to younger heavy and power metal enthusiasts. Anything worth playing is worth playing loud, and while this album does not live by decibels alone, it packs far more than one might expect from the average AOR band.

Release Date: April 17th, 2026
Record Label: SPV/Steamhammer
Genre: Melodic Hard Rock

Musicians:

• Johnny Gioeli / Vocals
• Alessandro Del Vecchio / Keyboards
• Luca Princiotta / Guitars
• Anna Portalupi / Bass
• Marco Di Salvia / Drums

Shout! Tracklist:

1. Shout
2. Rise Up
3. It Owns You
4. When You Came Into My Life (Scorpions cover)
5. Mother Love
6. Rise Above No Fear
7. Candy Love
8. I’m Leaning On It
9. Welcome To The Thunder
10. Glow

Order the album here.

The post HARDLINE – Shout! (Album Review) appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

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“I’m taking Sunday off and excited to be working on new Nine Inch Nails music Monday – I’ll see you when I come up for air.”

The post Trent Reznor Details Nine Inch Noize’s Debut Album, Confirms New Nine Inch Nails Is In The Works appeared first on Theprp.com.

Since time immemorial, humanity has been fascinated by the question of how we got here, and why we exist. But we’ve also been enthralled by pondering the reverse: How will it all come to an end? Thoughts about this subject have rained down from our minds across the ages, fertilizing the ground of inspiration — and providing the ideal muse for purveyors of extreme forms of expression. Like death metal.

The two-man supergroup of Matt Tluchowski (Doctor Smoke) and Alan Cassidy (The Black Dahlia Murder) has their own perspective on the matter, exemplified by the new video for “Inexorable Oblivion.” I think it’s clear the song takes a dim view of how the story all wraps up, but in case you weren’t sure, here’s one of my favorite lines: “No mystic or empiric conception of man could foresee our designless demise.” Stylistically, the song should be a satisfying slice of cosmic Armageddon for fans of Origin, Obscura, Decrepit Birth, and Necrophagist.

Check out the video for “Inexorable Oblivion” below. The band will release Unfathomable Mutagenic Abominations on Friday via Silent Pendulum Records. You can also check out more of the band’s material at their Bandcamp page.

The post Video Premiere: Infestuous – “Inexorable Oblivion” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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(written by Islander) Recently we have been reminded by photos from the vicinity of the Moon that in many respects the Earth is a verdant, beautiful, and serene place. Closer to ground level, however, it still often remains ugly, violent, saturated with suffering, and shrouded by death. Of that we don’t need reminding, because the […]

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Fresh off the release of the driving new single “Lest We Fall” and a string of strong live dates alongside Heaven Shall Burn and The Black Dahlia Murder, melodic death metal outfit The Halo Effect have confirmed plans for a European tour in 2027.

The Swedish band, whose members helped shape the Gothenburg sound during the 1990s, will headline shows across Europe in February and March. They’ll be joined by special guests Lacuna Coil, with Omnium Gatherum opening the run.

Artist exclusive presale starts tomorrow, Thursday, April 16, followed by the general on-sale beginning Friday, April 17. Check for tickets here.

The Halo Effect guitarist Niclas Engelin says: “Halos in Europe, we can’t wait to be back on the road in 2027! This time we bring the almighty Lacuna Coil and Omnium Gatherum with us, who we have been friends with for a long time. We look forward to an amazing time with you all!”

Since breaking through in 2021 with the track “Shadowminds”, The Halo Effect have remained a consistent name in modern death metal. Their lineup features vocalist Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity), guitarists Jesper Strömblad (represented live by The Haunted‘s Patrik Jensen) and Niclas Engelin, bassist Peter Iwers, and drummer Daniel Svensson. Together, they lean into the melodic foundation they helped establish while layering in newer elements like orchestral textures and atmospheric keys.

The post THE HALO EFFECT Sets European Tour With LACUNA COIL And OMNIUM GATHERUM appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.