Dream Theater Unveil ‘The Astonishing’ Artwork + Track Listing

Dream Theater have been teasing the details for their 13th studio album, The Astonishing, for a while now and have finally released the artwork and track listing for what is shaping up to be the biggest musical endeavor the band has ever undertaken. The concept album is divided into two acts, spanning a whopping 34 tracks! Start salivating, Dream Theater fans.

A website was launched dedicated to The Astonishing and has slowly been revealing key elements of the album's concept. So far we know of three characters: Gabriel, Emperor Nafaryus and Arhys. The site indicates five more will be introduced, but for now they remain silhouettes. Roughly one third of the map has been revealed as well and two videos have yet to be unlocked. The bottom of the site is headlined as "NOMACS" and features the floating orb that is the focus of the album's cover.

The artwork provides a scope of the album's concept. Dream Theater commented on the art, stating, "This album cover extends an ominous invitation into the retro-futurist dystopian setting of The Astonishing. The deceptively beautiful yet chillingly totalitarian image is a bold harbinger of the visual components and ideas presented by the sonic story that is our most ambitious creative work to date. We are very proud to soon bring you…The Astonishing."

Dream Theater announced in November that they will be performing The Astonishing in its entirety on their 2016 European tour.

Speaking with Revolver, guitarist John Petrucci discussed the upcoming album, saying, "A new album project is like a fresh and inspiring blank canvas and I love that every couple of years you have the opportunity of reinventing, trying something new and starting from scratch.”

Continuing, Petrucci added, “But given the history of the band, you do have to take all of that into account and consider what we’ve done already, what we haven’t explored yet and what will not only keep us interested and fired up, but will also keep people who listen to the band excited, as well." Always looking ahead, he concluded, "You really have to deliver the goods -- you can’t rest on your laurels, you can’t get lazy.”

There's nothing lazy about 34 songs! Check out the track listing for The Astonishing below.

No release date has been announced yet, but the album is expected to be out in early 2016.

Dream Theater, The Astonishing Track Listing:

Act I
01. "Descent of the NOMACS"
02. "Dystopian Overture"
03. "The Gift of Music"
04. "The Answer"
05. "A Better Life"
06. "Lord Nafaryus"
07. "A Savior in the Square"
08. "When Your Time Has Come"
09. "Act of Faythe"
10. "Three Days"
11. "The Hovering Sojourn"
12. "Brother, Can You Hear Me?"
13. "A Life Left Behind"
14. "Ravenskill"
15. "Chosen"
16. "A Tempting Offer"
17. "Digital Discord"
18. "The X Aspect"
19. "A New Beginning"
20. "The Road to Revolution"

Act II
01. "2285 Entr'acte"
02. "Moment of Betrayal"
03. "Heaven’s Cove"
04. "Begin Again"
05. "The Path That Divides"
06. "Machine Chatter"
07. "The Walking Shadow"
08. "My Last Farewell"
09. "Losing Faythe"
10. "Whispers in the Wind"
11. "Hymn of a Thousand Voices"
12. "Our New World"
13. "Power Down"
14. "Astonishing"

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