DREAM THEATER Guitarist On Upcoming Album: 'There's Definitely A Lot Of Energy And Excitement To It'

DREAM THEATER guitarist John Petrucci spoke to Metal Injection about the writing and recording process for the band's upcoming follow-up to 2019's "Distance Over Time" album. He said: "There's definitely a lot we learned from 'Distance Over Time'. And having said that, this is definitely something new and different as well. I can say this, we're hard at work. We still have a bunch to do. It's going to come out later this year. We're actually in the midst of tracking keyboards right now. I don't know if it's just, like, people are home and you can't tour, but it's, like, everybody just came to the table to play. Everybody is on fire. The best ideas and best playing. And so the album, it's lit up. There's definitely a lot of energy and excitement to it. I'm really pumped about it."

Petrucci also reflected on DREAM THEATER's 35-year career so far, saying: "I mean, it's unbelievable. It's not something that many bands could say and we're just so, so fortunate to have this extensive of a career and fans that were not only there from the beginning, but the new ones that we gain with each album that comes out, which is so encouraging. The fact that we've been able to do this type of music at the level that we're at is mindblowing. The fact that I'm still in the same band with [bassist] John Myung, who I met when I was 12 years old, blows my mind. The things that we've been able to do, the accomplishments and places we've been, it's just unbelievable… It's, like, we have just as much fun and excitement with every record that we do. Thankfully we have fans that look forward to new music just as eagerly as we did. It reminds me of the way that I felt when I was growing up and listening to RUSH, mostly like in the '80s during all those those classic albums, from 'Permanent Waves' and 'Moving Pictures' and 'Signals' and 'Power Windows' and all that stuff. I looked forward to every album when it came out, every new album, every new material. I couldn't get enough. So I love that we have that that similar type of mindset in our fan base. It's really encouraging. We just love doing it."

"Distance Over Time" marked DREAM THEATER's first album for for Sony Music's progressive imprint InsideOut Music. The group spent the past 25 years recording under various labels in the Warner Music Group system, most recently Roadrunner Records, which released five albums by the band between 2007 and 2016.

DREAM THEATER recently released its ninth career live album, "Distant Memories - Live In London". Recorded at DREAM THEATER's sold-out show at the Apollo Theatre in London, the live release documents the band's popular world tour in support of "Distance Over Time" and the 20th anniversary of their seminal concept album "Metropolis Part 2 - Scenes From A Memory".