lukretion After a handful of demos, in 1993 US prog rockers Enchant released their debut full-length A Blueprint of the World via Dream Circle Records. It is a strong debut, already showcasing all the qualities that Enchant will put on display through the rest of their career: incredibly skilled playing combined with a taste for classy arrangements and great balance between accessible mainstream rock and the intricacies of progressive music. Truth be told, A Blueprint of the World is tilted more towards the latter than the former, with the influences of prog rock giants, old (Genesis, Yes, Rush) and new (Marillion), looming large in the album’s ten songs. Marillion in particular were a prominent influence at this stage of Enchant’s career - and Marillion’s guitarist Steve Rothery does indeed feature on this album both as guest player and as producer of about half of the songs (the rest being produced by Paul A. Schmidt together with Enchant’s guitarist Doug Ott).

The style follows the aesthetics of neoprogressive rock music, with arrangements that are layered and complex, but at the same time light and pleasant to the ear. Guitars and keyboards provide most of the texture, often alternating in taking the lead at different moments of the songs. In either case, you’d be hard pressed to find anything “heavy” in the way Doug Ott and Michael Geimer are playing – as both guitars and keyboards favour clean tones, arpeggios and simple chords progressions over heavy and intense playing. Ed Platt’s bass licks are perhaps the closest the album gets to “riffs”, in the classic metal sense of the term of simple, repeated melodic figures that also provide a rhythmical pulse. Meanwhile, Paul Craddick’s drumming dances around Ed’s pulse, with a flurry of rhythmic activity and a touch that is beautifully light and clean.

There is a lot to unpack in each song, as the arrangements are fluid and keep changing from section to section, adding intricacies as the songs develop. However, the listener is almost never overburdened by the complexity, also thanks to structures that rarely get overly intricate and stick instead to a slightly elongated verse-chorus formula that roots the songs in a healthy dose of mainstream accessibility. Ted Leonard’s beautiful voice is the other element that eases the listener in. Already from this first album, it was clear that Ted is one of the best singers in progressive rock, with a voice that is pristine and soulful, but at the same time packs incredible power. It is no coincidence that a few years after recording this debut with Enchant, Ted will become the frontman of Spock’s Beard, one of the best progressive rock acts in the world.

However, one aspect of Ted’s singing that is slightly disappointing is the lack of strong melodies that can truly burrow in the listener’s head. This is something that will characterize most of Enchant’s discography, for reasons I do not quite fully understand, but I suspect are due to both the songs’ fairly complex harmonic progressions and to an intentional drive to eschew “easy” singalong melodies. To be fair, A Blueprint of the World does contain some excellent hooks, especially compared to other albums in Enchant’s catalogue, such as “The Thirst”, “Acquaintance”, “At Death's Door” or “Nighttime Sky”. But even these songs require multiple listens before the melodies truly “click”, which may be a barrier for some listeners.

Another barrier – and weakness – of the album is the lack of consistency, both in the songwriting and production. Being a debut, it is quite understandable the band wanted to throw in as much of their material as possible, even if not everything would necessarily blend together well. However, at times this approach ruins the flow of the album. “Enchanted”, for example, sticks out like a sore thumb, with its fantasy lyrics and epic atmospheres, when the rest of the album is very much grounded in reality. The alternation between Steve Rothery and Paul A. Schmidt as producers is also far from ideal. I can see why the band decided to ask Steve Rothery for help, as the tracks he produced are much better sounding than those produced by Paul A. Schmidt. However, the fact that these two sets of songs lie side by side on the same LP does not make for a smooth listening experience, and I cannot help but wonder whether Enchant would have been better off leaving the worse-produced tracks aside.

Despite these mishaps, A Blueprint of the World is a very good album, showcasing Enchant’s great talent and potential. The album may not be everyone’s cup of tea, as it is quite rooted in 1980s / early 1990s neoprogressive rock, more than metal. But fans of classic prog and more contemporary progressive rock/metal should not miss out on this band and album.

Warthur Enchant's debut album was produced with a little help here and there from Marillion's Steve Rothery, and that's a fairly clear indication of what to expect here - an American answer to UK-style neo-prog. The most obvious touchstone is Marillion, with their sound drawn mainly from the period ranging from Clutching at Straws to the proggier parts of Holidays in Eden (think Splintering Heart), but with an attentive ear one can also catch shades of Jadis and IQ, suggesting that Enchant had a fairly deep knowledge of this style of prog. One could also draw comparisons to the sort of material which fellow US neo-proggers Iluvatar were cooking up at this time.

Despite the aid of Rothery behind the producer's desk for some of the sessions, overall the album has a rather thin sound and the mix is kind of off, at least on some editions, though thankfully the 2CD reissue (which I have at last had a chance to hear) has addressed this issue. The band offer a competent rendition of neo-prog material which won't win any awards for originality but is broadly pleasing to the ear.

martindavey87 One of progressive rocks most beloved cult bands of the 90's, Enchant combine elements of progressive metal along with 80's neo-prog, to gain the perfect balance to appeal to fans of both subgenres. They're an awesome band. They have a very distinct sound, very melodic and easy on the ears, with enough crunch in their music to get heads banging, as well as vocalist Ted Leonard, who I consider one of my all-time favourite singers.

But here's the thing.

Damn, this album took me a long time to grasp. I mean, the first song 'The Thirst' had me hooked instantly, but for some reason the rest of 'em took loads (and I mean loads) of listens until they all finally clicked. And sure, I've come to like a lot of them, especially the first half of the record, but damn, it sure took some work.

The production is definitely of a mid-90's quality, and some of the tracks could do with a little cropping. But it's okay. They're a young band, this is their first album, and while there's definitely room for improvement, they've laid down some very solid foundations for which to build upon for future releases. Songs like 'The Thirst', 'Oasis', 'Catharsis', 'Acquaintance' and 'Nighttime Sky' are all memorable tracks that definitely make 'A Blueprint of the World' a worthy blueprint for this bands sound.

Included with my version is a bonus disc consisting of demos. Nothing special. Not really anything you'd listen to more than once. There is a pretty nifty little number titled 'The Calling' which didn't make the final cut. It's not a huge loss though, and overall this disc might be a great collectable for die-hard fans, but it doesn't really add or detract from the album.

In conclusion; despite featuring some of Enchants best songs, this is nothing more than a "good" debut. It helped establish the band and got their foot in the door, which, at a time when this sort of music was probably the least fashionable thing you could do, isn't such a bad achievement.

UMUR "A Blueprint Of The World" is the debut full-length studio album by US progressive rock/metal act Enchant. The album was originally released through Dream Circle Records in 1995 but the most available version is probably the 1997 InsideOut Music reissue.

The music on the album is soft edged/melodic progressive rock/metal with neo progressive rock leanings. Ted Leonard´s strong vocals and melodic vocal lines are the center of attention, but Douglas A Ott´s also gets his time in the spotlight with some really well played and melodic guitar soloing. It´s all accompagnied by an omnipresence of keyboards/synths played by Michael Benignus Geimer and a rather busy and accomplished rythm section in drummer Paul Craddick and bassist Ed Platt.

To my ears tracks like "The Thirst", "Catharsis" and "At Death's Door" have always stood as the strongest and most memorable tracks on "A Blueprint Of The World", but the instrumental "Mae Dae" also feature some beautiful parts. The rest of the tracks (maybe except for the rather cheesy sounding "Acquaintance", which doesn´t stand out for something positive) have never stood out to me. They´re all decent, but not that memorable.

The musicianship is solid and it´s especially enjoyable to lay ears to Paul Craddick´s busy drumming but lead vocalist Ted Leonard needs a special mention too for his emotional performance. Unfortunately some of the vocal lines are not that memorable though and he is occasionally forced to sing some notes that are on the edge of his capability. He sounds uncomfortable and strained. That´s seldom a good idea and it´s something they avoided on later more mature releases.

"A Blueprint Of The World" is partially produced by Steve Rothery (Marillion) who is credited for producing half of the tracks on the album. The rest are produced by Douglas A Ott. I don´t know the story behind this but my guess is that there was some sort of dissagreement between the band and Steve Rothery half way through the recording of the album or maybe a money issue. Regardless the result isn´t satisfying to my ears. Neither the Steve Rothery nor the Douglas A Ott produced tracks feature what I would call a professional sound production.

Despite some of the issues mentioned above I still think "A Blueprint Of The World" is a pretty good progressive rock/metal album. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.