Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, in the liner notes of the 2005 expanded edition of the "Awaken the Guardian" album, wrote: "very often fans and critics credit Dream Theater for creating a whole new genre of progressive metal music in the late '80s/early '90s, . . but the truth is Fates Warning were doing it years before us."

Fates Warning were founded by Jim Matheos, John Arch, Victor Arduini, Joe DiBiase, and Steve Zimmerman. The band is one of the most influential for the entire progressive metal scene, and its early albums are considered by many as very important works defining the genre itself. The band's discography started in 1984 with the album "Night on Bröcken".