Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci will release “Terminal Velocity,” his first solo album in 15 years, on Aug. 28 on all digital and streaming platforms, and Oct. 30 on CD and vinyl. The album will be released through The Orchard Music on Petrucci’s Sound Mind Music record label.
“Terminal Velocity” was written and produced by Petrucci, recorded by James “Jimmy T” Meslin, and mixed and mastered by Andy Sneap (Judas Priest, Killswitch Engage, Arch Enemy). The artwork was created by Sean M. Smith at Echo Designlab (Stone Sour, Hollywood Undead, In This Moment).
It is available for pre-order at https://orcd.co/TerminalVelocity. Limited colored 2LP-Vinyl (Clear & Black Metallic and Metallic Silver & Black) signed by Petrucci, as well as signed CD-Digipaks (limited to 200 copies) will be exclusively available at Newbury Comics and can be ordered now at https://www.newburycomics.com/collections/vendors?q=John%20Petrucci.
The album sees the return of bassist Dave LaRue (Dixie Dregs, Flying Colors), who played on John’s debut solo album and subsequent G3 tours, as well as an eagerly anticipated reunion with former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy (Transatlantic, Winery Dogs, Sons of Apollo).
“It was awesome bringing Dave back to play bass on this album. He is just such a monster player who can handle anything you throw at him with tastefulness and unmatched musicality,” Petrucci said. “His melodic approach to bass lines along with impeccable technique and groove for days really stands out on these tunes.”
Portnoy’s appearance on “Terminal Velocity” marks the first recording of the guitarist and his former bandmate in over a decade and the first since Portnoy left the band in 2010.
“Having Mike play drums on this record was really special for me ,and he did an absolutely incredible job navigating the various styles and technical challenges my music presented in the way that only he can do,” Petrucci said. “It was very cathartic for the both of us, I think, to be playing music together again after all these years and it really felt great! Mike’s spirited, intuitive and energetic playing truly helped to elevate these new songs to a level that I couldn’t be happier with.”
A music video for the album’s title track can be seen below.
“’Terminal Velocity’ was actually the first new song that I wrote for the album when I entered the studio in March of this year,” Petrucci said. “It stemmed from one of the many ideas and seeds that I had collected over the past several years. I literally began with the opening motif and built the rest of song from there. I think it’s a great lead-off single and nicely represents a few of the different stylistic sides of this record that I wanted to explore as a guitar player; The melodic/thematic side, the riffing side and the shred side.
“Mike and Dave both did an amazing job bringing this song to life as well, with all of the energy that they injected when recording their performances.
“The video was created by Wayne Joyner who made all of the promotional videos for Dream Theater’s “Distance Over Time” album as well as all of the 2019/2020 DT live tour visuals including all of the updated “Scenes from a Memory” video content. The tracking footage of me, Dave and Mike in the studio has a play-through sort of vibe while Wayne did his magic adding amazing 3-D graphics and special visual effects to help tell a story. I think the end result is a really unique and engaging video that captures the song’s energy and definitely does the first single justice. Really excited for people to see and hear this!”
Petrucci’s debut solo album, “Suspended Animation,” originally released in 2005 on his Sound Mind Music label, was recently made available on all digital and streaming platforms for the first time through The Orchard Music. The album features Dave LaRue on bass and Dave DiCenso and Tony Verderosa on drums.
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