When starting to work on what would become Octavarium, Portnoy noted that it would be their eighth studio album and that they had recently released their fifth live album, Live at Budokan.
Ketika mulai menulis dasar lagu pada album Octavarium, Portnoy menyadari kalau mereka akan membuat album studio kedelapan dan bahwa mereka baru-baru ini merilis album live kelima mereka, Live at Budokan.