ENCHANT — The Great Divide (review)

ENCHANT — The Great Divide album cover Album · 2014 · Non-Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Warthur
Following Tug of War, Enchant went into a big hiatus, at least as far as studio activity was concerned, and their members pursued other interests. Frontman Ted Leonard, in particular, would find a new berth in the intervening time as the lead singer in Spock's Beard, replacing Nick D'Virgilio - but that didn't stop him and the gang getting back together to give Enchant one more go in the studio.

I wasn't so keen on the last two Enchant albums before the hiatus, and in both cases the issue largely stemmed from the departure of Paul Craddick from the band. As well as being the group's drummer, Craddick had made extensive contributions to the songwriting, and it was immediately apparent in his absence that the band's pool of creative ideas had become just a bit shallower as a result. (In particular, the Rush influence which kept creeping into their stuff disappeared, to its detriment.)

Under such circumstances, it's understandable that the band would want to step back a while and recharge their songwriting batteries before giving things another go-around. Unfortunately, in this case I don't think it quite worked. On the one hand, at least this isn't another re-run of Blink of an Eye; they're playing somewhat less heavy this time around, in a reversion back in a more art rock/melodic rock-with-prog-influences direction. Unfortunately, that isn't quite enough to invest the material with much in the way of personality. Once again, they play perfectly competently, but it's so generic that I can't retain any of it in my memory once the album stops playing.

If The Great Divide has failed to rekindle my enthusiasm for Enchant, it also seems to have failed to prompt the band themselves to spend more time, well, being Enchant. Take Ted Leonard, for example: in the intervening eight years or so since this released, he's fronted two Spock's Beard studio albums and three Pattern-Seeking Animals releases, as well as working live dates with all those projects, whereas Enchant has been inactive in the studio and, after the 2015 tour supporting this album wrapped up, seem to have only gotten together to play live at major prog festivals like Cruise To the Edge.

Might this be the end of Enchant? If that's the case, it's a bit of a lukewarm ending. On the one hand, it's not an embarrassingly poor album; on the other hand, the bonus disc on some editions which provides a potted "best of" their preceding career kinds of beats the pants off The Great Divide itself. I'm certainly more inclined to remember Enchant for albums like Blueprint of the World or Break than for unmemorable material like this.
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