In a new interview with Belgian Jasper, DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie spoke about his band’s status as one of the leaders of the so-called “progressive metal” genre. Asked what, in his opinion, it means to be a “progressive metal” band, James said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “When you’re a progressive band, you have the freedom of going anywhere you wanna go musically. There’s no constraints. You can bust open whatever the hell you want that will support what you feel is exactly your goal or where you wanna go musically at that particular moment. So there’s no barriers when you’re a progressive band. And you’re able to also show this virtuosity that encompasses most progressive bands because there’s a little bit more musicianship going on. And you’re able to be a storyteller in a deeper, more profound sense. So that’s it. And the ‘metal’ [part of it] is something… We’ve always been — each and every one of us… If you listen to a band like RUSH and all the earlier albums, they had that edge, they had that aggressiveness, but they could still be progressive and amazing storytellers. Or growing up, listening to bands like LED ZEPPELIN and DEEP PURPLE and IRON MAIDEN and METALLICA, well, that’s gonna bring in all these things that are a more aggressive stance and hitting you over the head with something that just really gives you that adrenaline rush, and it’s aggressive and heavy and dark. So we encompass all. And that’s who we are. So that’s why we were given this title, the ‘progressive metal giants like DREAM THEATER’. And it’s, like, ‘Okay.’ So it is true because we do incorporate all of those elements. And it’s a beautiful, I think, marriage because it just allows you to even be that much more expressive musically. You don’t just have to be all this progressive band, period, that, oh, if you get a little too heavy, it’s, like, ‘Whoa, man, that’s not like them.’ That’s always been who and what we are, which is a beautiful thing because, once again, it’s just absolute freedom of being able to push the envelope as far as we want.”LaBrie was also asked about other progressive metal bands who sometimes paint themselves into a corner by trying to sound too much like DREAM THEATER or other groups with a similar style. He said: “I think, first of all, it’s flattering when you’re hearing these bands do this, but I think what a lot of bands fall prey to is they overthink it. And it’s really that simple. So they’re going, ‘Well, if we’re gonna be somewhat like that, then, oh, hear what they did here, and this is exactly what we should be doing right now,’ instead of just letting themselves go, ‘Wait a minute. Why do we have to be so specific as to thinking that this is the way that the song has to be in order for us to be looked upon the same way that DREAM THEATER or anybody else, for that matter, is looked upon that has been given some credit?’ But in the way that you can give it even more credence of who and what you are, it’s just listen to yourself and don’t worry about where it goes. And if you do have those elements that encompass both progressive and metal, but it’s done sincerely and genuinely, then you know what? It’s gonna resonate that much more or more deeper with the listener because it’s true. There’s no pretentious air to it or there’s no phonyism. And then it just makes you more disingenuous, when you start to try, because now you’re being scientific. You’re not being just somebody that has — you’re this conduit that’s taking out of yourself something that you felt, something that you heard or whatever, and you’re trying to put it down so that it’s something that will ultimately bring you closer to your fans or listeners, whoever happens to come by it. And I think that’s what it is, is they’re overthinking or overanalyzing where they have to go and they’ve forgotten to listen to themselves as a musician.”DREAM THEATER kicked off the North American leg of its 40th-anniversary tour on February 7 at The Met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The trek is “An Evening With Dream Theater” and is the first tour of North America since drummer Mike Portnoy’s return to the lineup, joining LaBrie, bassist John Myung, guitarist John Petrucci and keyboardist Jordan Rudess. The tour will conclude on March 22 in New York City.DREAM THEATER’s sixteenth studio album, “Parasomnia”, came out on February 7, 2025 via InsideOut Music. The LP marks DREAM THEATER’s first release with Portnoy since 2009’s “Black Clouds & Silver Linings”.”Parasomnia” was produced by Petrucci, engineered by James “Jimmy T” Meslin, and mixed by Andy Sneap. Hugh Syme returns once again to lend his creative vision to the cover art.Portnoy co-founded DREAM THEATER in 1985 with Petrucci and Myung. Mike played on 10 DREAM THEATER albums over a 20-year period, from 1989’s “When Dream And Day Unite” through 2009’s “Black Clouds & Silver Linings”, before exiting the group in 2010.Mike Mangini joined DREAM THEATER in late 2010 through a widely publicized audition following the departure of Portnoy. Mangini beat out six other of the world’s top drummers — Marco Minnemann, Virgil Donati, Aquiles Priester, Thomas Lang, Peter Wildoer and Derek Roddy — for the gig, a three-day process that was filmed for a documentary-style reality show called “The Spirit Carries On”.Image credit: DeadMike.com[embedded content]