In a new interview with Australia’s “Everblack” podcast, drummer Mike Portnoy, who rejoined progressive metallers DREAM THEATER in October 2023 after a 13-year absence, was asked if he feels he and his bandmates are “stronger now as mates” than they ever were in the past. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Absolutely. I think we’re just much older and wiser at this point. When I left the band back in 2010, I was in my early forties, and now here I am, I’m in my late fifties. All of our kids have grown up and gone off and left the houses at this point. So, we’re very much older and wiser and we have all of those experiences that we had over the last decade and a half apart. I went and did dozens and dozens of albums with dozens of different bands, and these guys have had all the experiences they had together without me, so coming back together, I think we’re much stronger people. We’re just more mature, older, wiser, calmer. I think we’re just better people at this point.”Portnoy went on to say that the strong bond between the DREAM THEATER members affected the songwriting and recording process for the band’s sixteenth studio album, “Parasomnia”, which is due on February 7, 2025 via InsideOut Music. He said: “I mean, you can definitely feel the energy. I find it similar to the energy we had with ‘Images And Words’ and with ‘Scenes From A Memory’. In both of those cases, we were making records with a new lineup — ‘Images And Words’ was the first album with [singer] James [LaBrie] in the band, and ‘Scenes From A Memory’ was the first album with [keyboardist] Jordan [Rudess] in the band. And there was a definite spirit to the chemistry in both of those cases. And I think it’s a very similar energy to the spirit of this album, just really being energized by the lineup change. It really inspired us to rise to the occasion.”Regarding what it has been like touring with DREAM THEATER again for the first time in 14 years, Portnoy said:  ”It’s been incredible. We did a full European leg so far and we did a full South American leg so far, and each and every show, the emotions have just been incredible. I mean, on one hand, there’s a big celebration of the reunion of this lineup, and there’s a lot of people in the audience that haven’t seen this lineup together in so long, or there’s a lot of people in the audience that weren’t even born when this lineup last played together. So there’s a lot of people in the audience that never saw this lineup together. So for that reason alone, there’s a lot of emotions in the air, but also the celebration of 40 years and this incredible discography of songs and music to work with and choose from when putting together the setlist. I put together a setlist that I think really celebrates the full spectrum of the band’s career. There’s a cross section of fan favorites and deep cuts as well. So I think it’s a show that the fans have really been loving.””Parasomnia” marks DREAM THEATER’s first release with Portnoy since 2009’s “Black Clouds & Silver Linings”.”Parasomnia” was produced by guitarist John 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.Clocking in at 71 minutes, “Parasomnia” takes the listener on a musical journey that has become synonymous with the band since the beginning of their career. “Parasomnia” is a term for disruptive, sleep-related disturbances including sleepwalking, sleep paralysis, and night terrors. Songs like “A Broken Man”, “Dead Asleep”, “Midnight Messiah” and “Bend The Clock” all build upon the themes brought on by the album title. The first single, “Night Terror”, is a musical thrill ride captured in the just shy of ten minutes listening experience.Portnoy co-founded DREAM THEATER in 1985 with guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John 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”.[embedded content]