THE DAYS THE CLOCK STOPPED

TDW / Dreamwalkers Inc. is Tom's project from WIT as a front-man; started in 2004 and finalized in a new version in 2017. This collective plays modern symphonic metal with progressive touches, acoustics and ambient, music combining emotion and intensity. This is their 8th album. TDW (just his letters!) Is therefore his baby including music, video and creative adventures being also a graphic designer; this intimate concept album describing his psychic and personal fight against his illness; 4 reminder titles punctuate its progression for a series of titles, a therapeutic escape from the body in which it was stuck.

"Crashscape" for an intro piano and whispered voice, classical trumpets then entry into energetic symphonic metal pump, it rocks! "Clockstop - Insight X" follows on a prog metal crescendo with big riff and backing vocals, symphonism and rhythm, verbal appetizer time to introduce "Code of Conduct" ethereal title, duet of angelic voices and other growls, the music juggling in the same way between tender, cottony space and 12/7 machine gun, in short it stirs loudly; "Clockstop - Insight 2" follows with a long track sailing on the sounds of the RIVERSIDE, bass forward, muffled voice, then here also a big sound suddenly, the fruity synth rounds the angles a little then mixes the two, j 'find there the beautiful tortured and inventive sound of PURE REASON REVOLUTION with these voices juggling between notes; the rise explodes, becomes orgasmic, we start off with avant-garde metal and the guitar solo makes you want to pick up the neck of the guitar even though you know you won't be able to translate the notes again; a song that goes up, that puts you in a trance. "Sleepless Angels" follows with the ambient-synth track the one that will rest your mind a little, a track that unfolds on the expressive electronic pads of Alessandrini.

"The Pulse" kicks off the second half of the album and returns to melodic heavy prog metal; more keyboards and drums resulting from it with a heavy nag riff, prog metal break then it starts again with a plaintive and enjoyable guitar and backing vocals which increase the Andalusian atmosphere at times, delicious bombastic prog metal; time to switch to "Clockstop - Insight 3" for the more manly Blackmore's Night musical interlude; go we slide on "Death and Her Brother Greg" in common title based on the voices in duplicates, title which gives pride of place to the rise to mid-term, symphonic, Dantesque, grandiloquent and Hollywood, same music from a science film. fiction, a little PAIN OF SALVATION in return. "No Can Do" arrives, the 18 minute centerpiece! Musically apart title with rhythmic entry, it flows all alone atmospheric and airy, already the riversidian break in the middle with bass, voice à la Mariusz, Luca's synth who wants to be analog for a melancholy and intimate descent; backing vocals which recall the PURE REASON REVOLUTION again; it starts again with biniou, riff and impressive drum pads then the riff is accompanied by a vulgar piano à la Jerry Lee LEWIS, go unspeakable solos at the end of the course; porcupine metal prog here. "Clockstop - Insight 4" follows in the face of this deluge with an air weighed, calm, metronomic, we feel the impulse of musical life reborn here; the title is easier to access, on the traditional strings with however a beautiful guitar solo at the end, a frenzied final à la AYREON, or MARILLION in its most explosive side. "Epilogue: A String of Repeats" smacks of the end of the album with varied male and female backing vocals, kind of a pot pourri of notes, a downpour like one could find at SHADOW GALLERY. Note the bonus track on CD "All We Could Do" to perfect this end of concept album on a variation of mostly female voices responding to Tom on yet another expressive nervous riff himself accompanied by a piano and Remco's cello.

An innovative multi-instrumentalist who had to listen to AYREON for the compositions, RIVERSIDE for the ambiences, GHOST for the choruses, PURE REASON REVOLUTION for the musical trance implication, PSYCHOTIC WALTZ for the style, group which released a nice album at the beginning of the year by the way !, a little of the flights of FATES WARNING and SAVIOR MACHINE and the more current bite of LEPROUS and other PERIPHERY for the energy released. Fusion of voices, symphony of songs to explain the quest for care, for freedom regained after living through the days when the clock had stopped, seen in the clip "Death and her Brother". Tom used this album as a cathartic outlet to ward off the demons of his illness successfully by offering modern metal associated with symphonic prog rock, a little pop and a lot of opera-rock sounds, a synthesis avant-garde progressive in itself. Eighty minutes of pure musical madness not to be missed.