Systematic Chaos - Reception

Reception

Critical reception for Systematic Chaos was generally positive. Writing for MetalReview.com, Jon Eardley called the album, "another solid outing". He complimented Petrucci for "Constant Motion", writing that it contains "some of the best riffs Petrucci has brought to the table". In addition, he called the latter part of "The Dark Eternal Night" "the most brutal part in any song to date". Reviewing for Metal Invader, Nikos Patelis called the album, "energetic, sharp – edged, full of beautiful melodies and heavy riffs, long epic compositions". He called Dream Theater's instrumentalists "four masters of music that use their instruments as if they were their limbs", in addition to stating, "James LaBrie sounds more mature than ever". In conclusion, Patelis called Systematic Chaos, "an excellent album that needs many times to be listened in order to be digested". Greg Prato, of Allmusic, wrote " 'Forsaken' proves wrong those who say that Dream Theater is all about instrumental gymnastics and not songwriting". He also compared riffs in "The Dark Eternal Night" to the band Pantera. Overall, he states " the quintet sticks to the prog metal game plan that they've followed since their inception". Reviewer Chad Bowar of About.com, wrote that "In the Presence of Enemies - Part I" is "an effective way to set the tone for the rest of the songs". Overall, Bowar gave the album four out of five stars, calling it, "one of the best Dream Theater releases in quite a while".

The album peaked in the top twenty-five in the United Kingdom and Australia, where the band had never previously charted. In the United States, the album peaked at the nineteenth position on the Billboard 200, making it the highest peaking Dream Theater album in the United States at the time of its release. Overall, Systematic Chaos peaked in the top twenty for album sales in eight countries. In the US, the album sold 35,689 copies the first week it was released.