MIKE PORTNOY Explains What Many Prog Bands Are Doing Wrong — And Why That Is The Secret To DREAM THEATER’s Massive Success

In a recent interview with Dylan Gowan of Banger TV, drummer Mike Portnoy chatted about the making of Parasomnia, the band’s sixteenth studio album and their first release with Portnoy since 2009’s Black Clouds & Silver Linings. Released on February 7, 2025, via InsideOut Music, Parasomnia marks a significant chapter in the band’s history — not just for the reunion but also for its weight and intensity.

When the interviewer remarked that the album comes across as one of the heavier albums in the band’s catalog, Portnoy didn’t hesitate to agree.

“Yeah, I think sometimes people overlook the importance of the metal side to Dream Theater, especially with me in the band. It’s a really important aspect. It always has been. If you look at the very, very first song from the very first album “A Fortune In Lies”, I was playing thrash, double bass, thrash beats right outta the gate.”

“And we’ve always had songs like that, whether it be “The Glass Prison” or “Panic Attack” or “A Nightmare To Remember”. It’s been a big part of the band’s sound, and, to be honest, I think it’s a big part of the band’s success,” Portnoy offered.

Portnoy argued that it’s this fusion of metal and prog that has helped elevate Dream Theater above many of their genre peers: “There’s a lot of prog bands or prog metal bands that are still kind of underground and still play smaller shows or maybe don’t sell as many records because maybe they haven’t tapped into the metal side.”

“But the fact that the metal side is such a big, big part of our sound, I think is what elevates Dream Theater to be the cream of the crop in terms of ticket sales and record sales in the prog universe. I think it’s that metal side that does it. The fact that we could play these big metal festivals like Aftershock or Louder Than Life or Hellfest or Graspop, the fact that we could pull off gigs like that as a prog metal band speaks a lot for that metal side,” he added.

That heavy leaning wasn’t forced—it came naturally during the writing of Parasomnia, Portnoy explained: “And when writing Parasomnia, we just naturally fell into it. Maybe it was the dark subject matter of sleep disorders and nightmares and things like that, maybe that helped us gravitate towards it.”

Summing up the album’s sound, Portnoy offered a clear comparison for longtime fans: “If I had to describe Parasomnia, the album, to somebody, I would say it kind of has the darkness and heaviness of Train Of Thought with the cinematic approach of Scenes From A Memory.”