As the frontman of Dream Theater for the last 30-plus years, James LaBrie has seen a lot of younger metal bands come and go within the broader scene. He's witnessed careers that never took off, quick hype that quickly died down, and also the rare bands who, like Dream Theater, have managed to make a decades-long life in metal.
During a recent conversation with Revolver, we asked the prog-metal singer which younger bands he thinks are currently carrying the torch for metal into the future, and two acts immediately came to mind. One of them makes sense given the type of music LaBrie sings in Dream Theater, but the other might come as a bit of a surprise.
"I think Architects are doing well," LaBrie said of the U.K. metalcore titans. "My son turned me onto them, and then they played a couple shows with [Dream Theater]. They went out and did a couple of shows over in Europe with us. They were all fans, and they're like, 'Hey guys, we listen to you.'
"But I mean, we get that a lot. When we're out, they're like, 'Oh, yeah, man. I grew up,' and I'm like, 'Fuck you. How old were you? Five years old when you started listening?' Anyways, I love the production of their albums. I think it's superior. It's just so well thought-out.
"I would say Periphery, too. I love those guys. Amazing musicians. I love everything they put out. It's just well thought-out, and it's a great representation of musicianship but at the same time, songsmith.
"I'm not necessarily always listening to metal music. Believe it or not, I'll listen to Young the Giant or OneRepublic, or even listen to Coldplay and U2's latest [albums]. So I actually purposely get away from maybe what it is that [Dream Theater] represent, with the metal and the progressiveness.
"But every so often, I'll hear a band and say, 'Wow, that's intelligent. That's well thought-of, and good for them. And hopefully they're going to be around for a while.' And if [Periphery] keep writing like that, I can't see why they wouldn't."
Hear a song from each of LaBrie's favorite younger acts below.
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