Dream Theater/Portnoy/Mangini news round-up

© Scott D. Smith/Retna ./Retna Ltd./Corbis

It's fair to say that there's been a decent amount of news streaming out of the Dream Theater/Mike Portnoy camps over the last few months.

We thought things had died down since Mike Mangini was unveiled has DT's new drummer, but no, the weekend has seen a flurry of press releases on either side. So here goes…

Mike Mangini in DT for keeps

Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci has told the Artisan News Service that Mike Mangini is not just a hired gun to warm Portnoy's drum stool until the blue-bearded one kisses and makes up with Petrucci and co.

The guitarist said: "[Mangini is] a [permanent] band member. That's what we were looking for. I think it depends on the band and what they [are] looking for. We're not looking for a session guy to come in temporarily. We don't wanna be known as the temporary Dream Theater, we want a member."

Portnoy A7X situation got 'out of hand'

Back in Portnoyworld, when asked for his thoughts on Portnoy scooping the Best Drummer gong at the Revolver Golden Gods, Avenged Sevenfold frontman M Shadows told Ultimate-Guitar that the two are still on good terms.

Shadows said: "…it just got a little out of hand for a while there with us. And the way he runs his camp is a little different than we run ours. It couldn't co-exist in that way and I'm really happy for him — I'm happy on a bunch of different levels. The Rev wrote those parts, Mike elaborated on them, and the record did really well. To me that's a success all the way around. Mike helped us out in a time of need and he really stuck true to what Jimmy's parts were, which we were really thankful for that."

American Idol contestant wants to work with Portnoy

If all else fails for Portnoy it seems he could hit the studio with American Idol's James Durbin.

Durbin, who was recently eliminated from the show told USA Today that he wants to lay down a metal record, but one that's radio-friendly, of course, and Portnoy is up there on his list of drummers he wants to work with.

When asked who he'd like to work with, he said: "Definitely Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater. I got to meet him, and I asked him if he'd be down for anything like that. He said, "Absolutely." So that's pretty amazing."

So there you have it. You're now fully up to date with all things Dream Theater. Phew.