A BLUEPRINT OF THE WORLD

Some bands just do it right from the get-go, perfectly right. This is the case with American prog rockers Enchant, the band led by guitarist Doug Ott and vocalist Ted Leonard (later associated with Spock's Beard, Thought Chamber and Transatlantic). The band itself had been circulating and gaining momentum since the late 80s, when they were mostly doing covers of songs by Genesis and Rush, if I am not wrong. Gradually becoming more experiences and having concerts more and more often, the San Francisco-native five-member group released their debut album titled 'A Blueprint of the World' (after a lyric from the song 'At Death's Door', coming on in the second half of the record) in 1993, calling in Marillion's very own Steve Rothery to co-produce half of the songs, after the band were unhappy with their first-choice producer. Rothery remixed the tracks he was assigned and even played some guitars on the 67-minnute long neo-prog adventure that this band deliver.

Alongside Ott and Leonard, we also hear their comrades Paul Craddick on drums, Ed Platt on bass, and Mike "Benignus" Geimer on keyboards. A solid lineup that remained unchanged for five albums in a row, until some members left. The most important thing, of course, is the music that this collective is capable of creating, and the music on their very first studio release is quite fantastic. The band explore their neo-prog liabilities, given the presence of Marillion's guitar player as the album's co-producer, while also presenting a catchier side, with the loads of memorable riffs and hooks, intertwining those with a very technical, sophisticated side that certainly reminisces the instrumental pyrotechnics of a band like Rush, or the lush, glorious attitude of prog metal titans Dream Theater, who had released their classic 'Images and Words' just a year ago.

Loads of great compositions, the band does not settle for anything conventional or radio-friendly, which can also be appreciated in the track list, with the songs' lengths ranging from five to nine minutes of playtime. The vocals of Ted Leonard are gorgeous, his lyrics are quite challenging, deep and introspective, as the album excels with emotive power, further strengthened by the warm production, the buzzing bass and the sheltering guitar sounds. The keyboards play a more atmospheric role, there is no grand noodling, Rick Wakeman-style (of course, such playing would not fit this record), just gentle, in-place playing. Among the highlights of this excellent debut album are the opener 'The Thirst', one of the most recognizable songs by Enchant, the strikingly gloomy 'Catharsis', plain beautiful 90s prog, the six-and-a-half-minute quasi-love song 'Acquaintance' that features some of Leonard's more gorgeous vocal deliveries, the instrumental 'Mae Dae' (after the band's first name), and 'At Death's Door', a 7-minute cracker that once again has an extremely memorable chorus. The rest of the songs are also quite good, more reminiscent of the 80s style of prog, while still cerebrally Enchant.

I cannot hide that I enjoy this album a lot. However, objectively listening to it, one has to admit that it really is a high point for the genre of progressive rock in the decade of the 90s. Remaining relatively unknown, Enchant have managed to build a strong reputation throughout the years, presenting a very solid catalogue, and an even more impressive debut album (hinting at bands like King Crimson, Riverside, or ELP who also delivered some of their strongest, if not best, material with the very first studio LP) - 'A Blueprint of the World' is sprinkled with magic, and one can only dive deep into it to fully appreciate the nuances and moods of this beautifully-written and masterfully-performed collection of songs. Strong arguments can be made that the band never bettered this one!