TICK TOCK

You eat Gazpacho in the summer; it is a cold refreshing soup made from various fresh ingredients. So this is a great name for this band?a refreshing mix of musical influences, but with a freshness that is all their own.

Sure, you can hear some Marillion, Radiohead, Porcupine Tree, and even a little Pink Floyd in there, but it is all finely mixed together into a refreshing dish.

This is their sixth album (I really like their previous release as well, "Night"). This concept album is based on the story of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, who, on December 29, 1935, attempted a long distance flight from Paris to Saigon. He crashed in the desert, where he barely survived the trek across the sands.

The metaphor of a desert walk lays the foundation for the album. Atmospheric and moody, but it does not get monotonous because of surprises at every turn (the Middle-Eastern guitars and violins in "The Walk (Part I)" are awesome, only to be topped with the Gregorian chant in "Tick Tock (Part I)."