by Michael Popke

Dream Theater’s three-part, one-hour-plus video documentary, “The Spirit Carries On,” (which can be seen on YouTube) chronicled the progressive-metal band’s search for a new drummer to replace the arguably irreplaceable Mike Portnoy. (Mike Mangini ultimately earned the job.) The dramatic video, while intriguing, also reeked of self-indulgence.

So, as Shir Deutch, vocalist/guitarist for the Israeli prog band Solstice Coil, recently wrote on the band’s website, “we decided to make a parody, considering how we are actually in a similar spot: our drummer, Yatziv Caspi, left Israel a while ago, and consequently, the band. If we were to make a music video of the whole band playing, we would need someone to fill in for him. But who will we choose?”

It’s worth watching this 10-minute YouTube clip to find out who Solstice Coil chose — and how. This is a laugh-out loud, tongue-in-cheek parody in which the band:

• claims that, “In 2008, Solstice Coil sold under 10 million albums worldwide.”

• puts prospective drummers through at least 85 phases of auditions, including a “jamming” test in which each one is asked to spread jam on bread really fast.

• promotes its new album, Natural Causes, by titling the parody documentary, “The Natural Causes Carries On.”

Just a warning, though: The F-bomb is dropped near the 3:56 mark and again at 7:10, 8:00 and 8:40.

Heck, if I played drums and could afford the airfare, I wouldn’t have minded jetting to Tel-Aviv and auditioning. Hanging with the guys in Solstice Coil seems like it would be a lot more fun than sitting around with John Myung.

by Michael Popke

The big news in prog and metal circles today is the debut of Dream Theater’s new song with new drummer Mike Mangini (the short one, second from right). Titled “On the Backs of Angels,” the first Dream Theater track (ever) to not feature founding member Mike Portnoy is streaming on YouTube. The track opens with John Petrucci’s lovely acoustic guitar, followed by Mangini’s first beats. He plays a tribal-like groove that sets the pace for the nearly nine-minute song. A middle section highlights Jordan Rudess’s classical-piano chops, and Petrucci’s soloing sounds clean and carefree. Even vocalist James LaBrie seems a lot less pissed off than he did — especially on last year’s solo album, Static Impulse. This is pure Dream Theater, but — and it could just be the nature of the song — this also sounds like a band renewed.

The new Dream Theater album, aptly titled A Dramatic Turn of Events, will be released by Roadrunner Records on Sept. 13.

A little more than a month after original drummer Mike Portnoy’s sudden departure from Dream Theater, the band held three days of auditions in New York City. Over a productive three-day period, the band played, jammed and spoke candidly with seven drummers, learning about them musically, personally and professionally, and assessing the fit of each drummer’s chops with the band’s trademark prog-rock sound.

Dream Theater have been extremely sensitive to the fact that this is not only a monumental decision in their own lives, but also a critical moment in the lives of DT fans around the world.

“The departure of our lifelong bandmate and friend was an unexpected and truly heartbreaking blow,” says guitarist John Petrucci. “The fact that as a result of that event we’d be introduced to seven infinitely capable and uniquely talented drummers was heartening.”

Dream Theater would like to share with its fans some of the intense process, along with the musical joy, that went into choosing a new drummer. Who is the best fit behind the kit?

Go to Dream Theater’s Facebook page on Thursday, 4/21 at 11 AM to sign up for the mailing list and to receive more details about an exclusive and intimate look at the auditions, and to find out exactly when and how the momentous announcement about the band’s new lineup will be made. Also on Facebook, fans will be able to find out information about the band’s upcoming 2011 World Tour.

By Will Romano

Once they reconvened, Transatlantic recorded 2009’s Billboard-charting “The Whirlwind” and, in 2010, released a massive triple-disc live collection, an accompanying 2-DVD set, and a 5-disc deluxe edition, titled “Whirld Tour 2010: Live at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London,” boasting such epic compositions as “All of the Above,” “Duel with the Devil,” “Stranger in Your Soul” and the 80-minute (you read that correctly) title track of “The Whirlwind.”

Morse couldn’t have chosen a more appropriate — and prophetic — title for the band’s reunion disc: There were moments when it appeared as though the entire Transatlantic touring caravan would derail. “Pete [Trewavas] had created this audio collage of natural disasters and newscasts [for the record],” says Morse. “It was very fitting, because at the time we were doing the tour, there was this volcanic ash cloud [emanating from Eyjafjallajökull Volcano in Iceland] that was precluding all flights into Europe. We didn’t even know if we were going to be doing the tour.”

“Our lighting guy and our merchandiser missed the U.S. leg of the tour because of the canceled flights,” says Collin Leijenaar, Transatlantic tour manager. “I was constantly following the news, adjusting tickets and travel plans. For me it was a whirlwind.”

Turbulence continued to wreak havoc even after the tour. Stunning the prog community, Portnoy announced he was leaving Dream Theater, crowning the entire topsy-turvy cycle.

“Symbolically, the whirlwind captures the turbulence that can happen in our lives and, also, in the world,” says Morse.

Read the an interview with Neal Morse on his solo project with Mike Portnoy and Randy George by clicking here