Enchant - Tug Of War
InsideOut Music
Melodic Heavy Progressive Rock
10 songs (65'26)
Release year: 2003
Enchant, InsideOut Music
Reviewed by Marty
This new album, Tug Of War is Enchant's seventh album to date and once again they deliver a fine album laden with classic progressive rock with a little harder edge and lots of great melodic vocal lines. I've heard bit and pieces of the band's last 2 albums, Blink Of An Eye and Juggling 9 Or Dropping 10 and although it sparked my interest, I've never really sat down and listened to one of their albums in it's entirety until now. This U.S. based band consists of Ted Leonard, vocals, Doug Ott, guitars, Bill Jenkins, keyboards, Ed Platt, bass and Sean Flanegan, drums.

If you like great progressive rock with lots of layered and melodic vocals, Enchant may be just what you're looking for. Ted Leonard's voice reminds a bit of both Steve Hogarth (Marillion) and Tommy Shaw (Styx) in it's range and strength and he is truly a great vocalist. Similarities with bands like Kansas, Genesis and Marllion (post Fish era) can be found in the band's sound with many tracks having great soaring and expressive Steve Rothery (Marillion) style lead guitar. Lots of lead guitar and synthesizer trade-offs in a few songs really liven things up as well. The first track Sinking Sand is available for download from the band's website (see link beside CD cover) and is a great introduction to the band. Great guitar harmonies over a Genesis Squonk style plodding rhythm open the track which features excellent vocals and a lead solo that has a very Micheal Schenker style phrasing. The title track , Tug Of War deals with the battle against substance abuse and uses a more modern heavy guitar riff over backing keyboards for the basis of the track and reminds me of something from the last couple of Queensryche albums. The chorus to this song has a very Styx like sound to it and again, the Marillion and Kansas influences can be heard. Beautiful is a quieter track with acoustic guitar and piano and evolves into a heart-wrenching ballad with a great vocal performance by Ted. Living In A Movie begins with some Marillion style clean guitar for the intro and slowly builds to a heavier chorus section. The song deals with the so called "day from hell" that everyone has now and again where everything that could possibly go wrong....inevitably does!! It has a great catchy chorus and another great expressive and soaring lead guitar solo. Progtology is an instrumental track that features some very technical guitar riffing as well as solid lead keyboards (synthesizer and mellotron) and allows the band to get a wee bit self-indulgent. It seems like all album they've been holding back and then suddenly let loose on this one!! The final track Comatose features a nice piano/voice intro and is a very reflective song that builds and eventually get heavier, using some cool pipe organ sounds that blend very well with the backing track. Another song that is rich in melody as well as having one of the many killer lead solos that grace so many tracks on this album.

If you like bands such as Marillion, Spock's Beard etc. and enjoy great melodic progressive rock played with a little harder edge, check out Enchant. You really have to listen to this band several times to really appreciate them. Upon first listens, I felt that although the band sounded great, some of the songs didn't really grab me at first. After several listens, you begin to "understand" where they're coming from and what they have to offer the progressive rock fan. A great sounding album from a great sounding band. With 7 albums behind them, you're assured of quality when you see a CD with the Enchant name on it.

Killing Songs :
Sinking Sand, Tug Of War, Living In a Movie, Progtology and Comatose
Marty quoted 82 / 100
Other albums by Enchant that we have reviewed:
Enchant - Blink of an Eye reviewed by Ben and quoted 66 / 100
Enchant - Juggling 9 Or Dropping 10 reviewed by Chris and quoted 80 / 100
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