(Gibson) Dream Theater have made their search for a new drummer into a three-part web series. "The Spirit Carries On" features the prog metal giants auditioning seven potential replacements for outgoing founding member Mike Portnoy. The drummers in contention are Aquiles Priester (Angra, Paul Di'Anno), Peter Wildoer (Darkane), Virgil Donati (Planet X, Seven the Hardway), Derek Roddy (Hate Eternal, Nile, Today is the Day), Mike Mangini (Steve Vai, Extreme, Annihilator), Thomas Lang (John Wetton, Robert Fripp, Glenn Hughes) and Marco Minnemann (Kreator, Necrophagist, Ephel Duath, Joe Satriani).
In episode two, frontman James LaBrie discussed the wide range of material the group threw at the skinsmen during their auditions: "You have a heavy metal tune. Then you have a more lighter, atmospheric tune like 'Spirit,' and then you have an epic tune. If there's anything that a drummer has to grasp, it's those aspects of Dream Theater." Check it out here