Dream Theater has started work on its 17th studio album. The band shared the news in a social media post on Tuesday, Oct. 13, along with a photo of all five members at Ytse Jam Studios. The caption read “#DT17 is underway…”.
More details will come later. The new record follows Parasomnia, which came out on Feb. 7, 2025.
Back in May, singer James LaBrie spoke about the timing in an interview with Igor Miranda. “And then probably late ’26 or early ’27 we’ll get in to start writing and recording a new album,” LaBrie said. He added that the plan was not set in stone.
Drummer Mike Portnoy said in a December interview with Australia’s May The Rock Be With You that the band would likely take the summer of 2026 off. Only then would the members start thinking about a new album.
Dream Theater is a progressive metal band that began in Boston in 1985. John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), and Mike Portnoy started the group as Majesty while they were students at the Berklee College of Music. LaBrie joined in 1991. Jordan Rudess (keyboards) came aboard in 1999.
Portnoy quit in 2010, and Mike Mangini took his seat. Mangini played on five studio albums and the tours that went with them. Portnoy returned in October 2023.
Before he left, Portnoy played on 10 albums over 20 years, from 1989’s When Dream and Day Unite through 2009’s Black Clouds & Silver Linings. His first show back took place on Oct. 20, 2024, at the O2 Arena in London.
The band has put out 16 studio albums. It had sold more than 12 million records worldwide as of 2018, per Billboard. It has earned four GRAMMY Award nominations and won one in 2022. Its second album, Images and Words, peaked at No. 61 on the Billboard 200.
Parasomnia has eight songs and runs 71 minutes. Six tracks pass the seven-minute mark. Petrucci produced the album, Andy Sneap mixed it, and the band recorded it at its studio on Long Island, New York.
Before that came 2021’s A View From the Top of the World. It debuted in the top 10 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Rock Albums, and Independent Albums charts, per Billboard.
To support Parasomnia, the band hit the road on the An Evening With Dream Theater tour. Each night, the group played the whole album plus the seven-movement piece “A Change of Seasons.” Its April 22, 2026, show at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile, was recorded and filmed for an upcoming Blu-ray.
The band also released Quarantième: Live À Paris through Inside Out Music and Sony Music. It captures the Nov. 23, 2024, show at Adidas Arena in Paris. Fans can find more on the band at its official website.
