TERMINAL VELOCITY

FROM THE GALACTIC-sounding guitar effects and insistent, propulsive riffing and ear-nagging hooks of the title track to the majestic journey of the album-closer “Temple of Cicadia” — which weaves spindly six-string passages between arhyhthmically chugging riffs and incorporates a clean midsection colored with harmony-laden licks — Terminal Velocity is a masterful presentation. It’s a diverse, invigorating illustration of how guitar pyrotechnics can be arranged to create what Frank Zappa called “impossible guitar parts” that neither come across as self-indulgent excursions or detract from the enjoyability of the songs. The rest of the album demonstrates Petrucci’s acumen and agility, whether playing music rooted in blues, Latin music, Eighties metal or thrash. And through it all, Petrucci offers the listener melodic threads to cling to throughout the wild ride.

“With most guitar instrumental music, you can only listen to soloing for so long before you need something else,” Petrucci says. “I felt that these songs had to go somewhere. They have to speak and have a purpose. They have to have a message. And the best way to do that is through melody.”