Dream Theater has built a career on delivering some of the most consistently strong progressive rock albums in history and Systemic Chaos proves no exception. Built upon the trademark musically diverse but stylistically reliable principles that made albums such as Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence and Train of Thought instant classics, this album features new career highs such as "Prophets of War," "Forsake," and "Constant Motion." Although the band has flirted with commercially viable material in the past, especially on 2005's solid and exciting Octavarium, Systemic Chaos proves unrelenting in its pursuit of pure heavy rock. There are plenty of surprises in store, even for stalwart fans, perhaps one of the reasons that Dream Theater remains in a class by itself, ahead of the pack and ahead of the times. A truly outstanding album by any measure.--Jedd Beaudoin