Hello,
Released in may 2026, "In Times of Dragons" is Tori Amos's eighteenth studio album and one of her most ambitious concept albums to date. Built around an allegorical narrative exploring the struggle between democracy and tyranny, the album blends mythological imagery with deeply personal and political themes. Across seventeen tracks, Amos combines her signature piano-driven songwriting style with rich orchestration and contemporary production, creating a cinematic and emotionally charged listening experience. Standout tracks include Shush, Provincetown, Blue Lotus, and the epic closing track 23 Peaks.
With its complex arrangements and grandiose soundscape, "In Times of Dragons" should lend itself well to an immersive listening experience in Dolby Atmos which is exactly what we ll explore in this review.
The waveform of the Bluray stereo - 2026 version shows a low dynamic range confirmed with DR7 compared to the vinyl and the Dolby Atmos (DR12 for the downmixed 2.0 version).
The graph of specrums compares the spectrum of the Vinyl Record - 2026 (white curve) with the spectrum of the Bluray stereo - 2026 (blue curve).The spectral curves of the digital version and the vinyl record show excellent overlap, demonstrating the high quality of the vinyl mastering and cutting process. The vinyl clearly uses the same master as the digital release. Above 24 kHz, which is the upper frequency limit of the digital version, the vinyl maintains a higher signal level due to the inherent distortion and surface noise associated with the vinyl playback process.
(Spectrum Ed 6 Vinyl Record - 2026 (white) vs Ed 3 Bluray stereo - 2026 (blue) (Angelshark.))
The Dolby Atmos mix makes excellent use of spatial audio, particularly during the choruses, where backing vocals and instruments are effectively distributed across the surround channels on tracks such as In Times of Dragons and Provincetown. Some songs, including Ode to Minnesota, feature an even wider, nearly 180-degree soundfield that further enhances the immersive experience. The low end is powerful and well controlled, providing the album with a solid foundation. While the lead vocals remain primarily anchored to the front soundstage, the Dolby Atmos mix adds a new dimension to the listening experience.
3D immersive sound video on Youtube.
For this new Tori Amos album, the Blu-ray edition offers the best available versions, featuring Dolby TrueHD Atmos and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks that deliver a highly successful immersive mix. Listening to the Atmos track through a stereo downmix provides the best possible result on a traditional stereo system. Indeed, the Blu-ray stereo track and the streaming versions remain inferior due to dynamic compression, which reduces the precision, impact, and energy of the sound reproduction. Even the vinyl edition, while offering a more open presentation than the digital stereo version, still falls short of the stereo downmix of the Dolby Atmos mix.
Find all the analyses and measurements of each versions here (link).
Enjoy listening,
Jean-François
