PORT JEFFERSON, NY — In a stunning display of artistic reinvention, the members of progressive metal titans DREAM THEATER have announced the formation of an exciting new side project: Lucid Slumber, a band that, coincidentally, sounds indistinguishable from DREAM THEATER in every possible way — down to the 14-minute keyboard solo about time dilation and that moment when you stub your toe in a dream.
“This is totally different,” insisted guitarist John Petrucci, who is also playing guitar in this band, just as he always has. “Lucid Slumber explores deep new territory: time signatures we haven’t used since 1997, fresh lyrical themes like sleeping, waking up, and alternate dimensions where DREAM THEATER never existed. It’s definitely not DREAM THEATER. There’s a flute in one section. For five seconds.”
Keyboardist Jordan Rudess agreed. “Look, in DREAM THEATER I’m limited to twenty keyboards on stage. In Lucid Slumber, I have twenty-two. Also, we now run backing tracks of Gregorian monks arguing about polyrhythms. It’s deeply experimental.”
The band’s debut album, Chrono-Phantasmic Echo Spiral Part I: Awakening of the Binary Dawn, is described as “a bold exploration of themes such as sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming, and what happens when a Berklee graduate drops acid on a math exam.” The record is 97 minutes long and divided into four acts, each based on a recurring dream drummer Mike Mangini once had about being chased by Neil Peart’s ghost in 13/8.
Vocalist James LaBrie promises that his vocal performance “channels an entirely new energy,” noting that “in DREAM THEATER, I sing high notes about space dragons and broken time machines. In Lucid Slumber, I sing even higher notes — this time about space dragons inside broken time machines.”
When asked why they didn’t just release this as a new DREAM THEATER record, Petrucci got philosophical. “Sometimes, to move forward, you must change your name, your t-shirts, and the color of your album art. The music? No. That must stay exactly the same.”
Fans, for the most part, seem thrilled and confused. Reddit user RudessFan420 posted: “I’ve been listening to Lucid Slumber’s new single ‘Infinite Recursive Dream Cycle (Overture)’ on repeat. At first I was like, ‘isn’t this just ‘Octavarium’ played backward?’ But now I think it might be ‘Octavarium’ played sideways. Either way, it shreds.”
Not everyone is convinced. Former drummer Mike Portnoy, currently touring with fourteen bands and a Slayer tribute project called Rain in Blood, Sweat & Tears, commented: “I was asked to join Lucid Slumber, but I’m already forming a side project that sounds exactly like Transatlantic but with more cowbell and stress.”
Lucid Slumber’s debut drops September 13, which according to the band, is “a Fibonacci number if you believe hard enough.” The release party will be held in an abandoned observatory and feature an acoustic medley of Scenes From a Memory performed in reverse order by candlelight.
