“It’s a toxic environment. Somebody is going to tell us what we’re not doing right”: American prog metal giants blasted back at being trolled for sounding like themselves

Dream Theater.

At some point in their career every band inevitably gets it in the neck from a section of their fanbase. When Dream Theater released fifteenth studio album A View From The Top Of The World in 2021 – their last to feature drummer Mike Mangini before Mike Portnoy returned – Prog found guitarist John Petrucci and singer James LaBrie in defiant mood, demanding of the trollers: if you don't want us to sound like us, who do you want us to sound like?

Tucked away in an inconspicuous industrial park in the centre of Long Island, New York, is Dream Theater’s newly-renovated bolthole. In the space of 18 months, the studio has been the setting for the recording of guitarist John Petrucci’s solo album, the third Liquid Tension Experiment record, and, in October 2020, where Dream Theater recorded latest release A View From The Top Of The World.