ANGULAR PERCEPTIONS

On the cover of this cd is a little round sticker that states that singer Ted Leonard of ENCHANT is featured. Make no mistake though this is a Michael Harris project. Michael Harris is one of the best guitarists out there having put out many solo records and before that he had some major commercial success in Japan and Europe with his former band ARCH RIVAL. One of Michael's solo albums is called "Sketches From The Thought Chamber" and this is sort of an extension of that. Harris wrote the music and lyrics for all the songs getting some help with the music on two of the instrumental tracks. With Ted singing on this record there is going to be a lot of comparisons between THOUGHT CHAMBER and ENCHANT. THOUGHT CHAMBER is all about bombastic solos,complex playing and arrangements and they are a lot heavier than ENCHANT. I would compare this band's music to LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT and DREAM THEATER.

The band certainly shows what they are all about on the first song "Premonition" an instrumental. Over the top keyboard playing and virtuoso guitar solos are fired off left and right before they show some diversity with a slow and heavy ending. "Sacred Treasure" features some amazing keyboard playing but it's a little too upfront for my tastes. The vocals 2 1/2 minutes in make me smile as I think of ENCHANT.The guitar is great as we get some riffing followed by an intricate guitar solo then a keyboard solo. "A Legend's Avalon" opens with some double bass drumming and some impressive guitar work 4 minutes in. "Balance Of One" features Harris singing lead on the bridges while Leonard takes care of the rest. Drums and bass dominate the instrumental sections as the guitar blazes a trail. This is excellent fusion.

"Transmigration Of Souls" has some fantastic work from the rhythm section.The guitar melodies are IRON MAIDEN-like, while the bass before 5 minutes is impressive. "God Of Oblique" is a change of style to almost like an eighties metal song. I like it. A blistering guitar solo after 3 minutes followed by a keyboard solo. There is an eastern feel to the song 4 minutes in. "Silent Shore" features guitar synth (there is a lot of this on this record), e-bow and some orchestration.This song is more laid back and the closest thing to an ENCHANT song. Tasteful guitar on this one and it ends with a Page-like guitar melody. "Accidently On Purpose" is an instrumental, and all I can say is "yeah,these guys are showing off big time". "A Mind Beyond" has some good guitar and vocals as the synths swirl. I love the background synths on this one that are followed by some heaviness and a jazz passage.

Tough one to rate only because the musicianship demands nothing less than 4 stars but for my tastes it's closer to 3 stars. I'm just not a big fan of uptempo, keyboard led music. Fortunately it's not all about that. I am so impressed with the guitar play of Michael Harris though, and of course with Ted's vocals. So it's 3.5 stars for me. And by the way I have to admit the reason I bought this disc had something to do with the little round sticker on the front cover.