DREAM THEATER To Begin Work On New Studio Album In The Fall

DREAM THEATER guitarist John Petrucci has confirmed to Spain's Metal Hammer magazine that the band is planning to use some of its coronavirus downtime to work on the follow-up to last year's "Distance Over Time" album.

"There's a lot going on musically this year," Petrucci said (see video below). "Obviously, everybody's trying to be creative.

"The DREAM THEATER schedule is different now. We would have been touring in the spring, we would have been touring now, and then we probably would have been off for the fall and winter. But now that that's all changed, we'll go back in the studio, because nobody wants to sit around and do nothing.

"We're musicians, we're creative people, so we're gonna make music," he continued. "So, yeah, our schedule has been sort of shifted, I guess, because of the pandemic… We're gonna do what we do, which is make music. So we're not gonna sit around, and we're gonna move our schedule up and start working on new music in the fall."

"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.

The "Distance Over Time" artwork was created by longtime cover collaborator Hugh Syme (RUSH, IRON MAIDEN, STONE SOUR). The disc was produced by Petrucci, mixed by Ben Grosse and mastered by Tom Baker.

Petrucci will release his second all-instrumental solo album, "Terminal Velocity", on all digital and streaming platforms on August 28 and on CD and vinyl on October 30 through The Orchard Music on his Sound Mind Music record label.

"Terminal Velocity" was written and produced by Petrucci, recorded by James "Jimmy T" Meslin and mixed and mastered by Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, ARCH ENEMY). The artwork was created by Sean M. Smith at Echo Designlab (STONE SOUR, HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD, IN THIS MOMENT).

The album sees the return of bassist Dave LaRue (DIXIE DREGS, FLYING COLORS),who played on John's debut solo album and subsequent G3 tours, as well as, an eagerly anticipated reunion with former DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy (TRANSATLANTIC, THE WINERY DOGS, SONS OF APOLLO).