A BLUEPRINT OF THE WORLD

ENCHANT's debut album has a sound that reminds me of RUSH's "Power Windows". Steve Rothery the guitarist for MARILLION produced and mixed 5 of the 9 songs. Rothery was a mentor to Doug Ott the lead guitarist for ENCHANT and they actually trade licks in the outro of the song "Enchanted".

Speaking of Steve Rothery he's playing e-bow at the beginning of the opening song "The Thirst" and there is a flourish of keys before we hear the wondrous vocals of Ted Leonard. There is a Lifeson sounding guitar solo 4 minutes in that is really good. "Catharsis" is another pleasant song that gets better as it goes. "Oasis" is a little more aggressive with some good riffs, keyboard runs, and fast paced drumming. Nice ! There is a long tasteful guitar solo and the synths remind me of RUSH as well. "Acquaintance" is such a beautiful song especially the vocals and lyrics. I'm not usually into ballad-like songs but this one is amazing, and the background synths are a nice touch.

"Mae Dae" is a song they used to open their concerts with. It opens with haunting synths as the guitar comes in and builds. The drumming is incredible as this becomes an uptempo song with lots of synths. "At Deaths Door" is the one I like the least, it's ok though. "East Of Eden" has some good fat bass lines and great guitar melodies, especially 3 minutes in. The ending is fantastic ! "Nighttime Sky" is a beautiful song with meaningful lyrics. Love this one ! "Enchanted" is one of their most requested songs. With some RUSH sounding guitar solos and some more great vocals.The final song "Open Eyes" is an ok tune with synths and guitar dominating.

Just an excellent debut from the band and I really like "Acquainted","Nighttime Sky" and "Enchanted" the best.