Enchant - A Blueprint of the World

I usually stick to reviewing metal (whether prog or not) so Enchant's Blueprint of the World from Magna Carta records isn't exactly my usual domain when it comes to cd reviews. Enchant walks the line that separates prog metal from prog rock so perhaps progressive hard rock would be the most appropriate description for Enchant's brand of music. Enchant has a sound that can be best described as a mix of Rush, Marillion and Dream Theater (light Dream Theater, that is) but the Dream Theater similarities may be totally unintentional because DT lists both Marillion and Rush as their influences as well. Douglas A. Ott handles most of the songwriting for Enchant but it's his work as guitarist that really grabs my attention, he's good. Unfortunately, the vocal melodies, while decent, don't do a whole lot for me.

1. "The Thirst" - Pretty good up tempo song, maybe a tad Rush-like, this tune has a good flow to it. The guitar is strong and precise and the keyboards are nice and crisp, which makes for a very clean sound.
2. "Catharsis" - This is a mid-paced progressive hard rock song, reminding me, again, of Rush. The guitar and keyboards really compliment each other well on this tune (again) and the guitar solo towards the end is very cool.
3. "Oasis" - Dream Theater-light is a pretty accurate way of describing "Oasis", good song. This song is somewhat of an epic, clocking in at over 8 minutes. Another fascinating guitar solo begins around the 3:30 mark. In fact, the instrumental section in the middle of this song reminds me a lot of some of Shadow Gallery's work.
4. "Acquaintance" - Pure progressive rock, a nice ballad with beautiful keyboards. Very Styx-like.
5. "Mae Dae" - This is an instrumental and the guitar sounds really cool, fairly heavy and very active but not overly so.
6. "At Death's Door" - This one starts pretty heavy and bounces back and forth between heavy and light, very cool song. The guitar sounds very cool here. Of all the songs on this album, this is the one you can call prog metal. I cannot stress enough how good guitarist Douglas A. Ott is on this album, he has a very engaging and fascinating style. But, again, the vocal melodies just don't do it for me, maybe it's their almost pop-like style combined with an odd prog rock twist that throws me off, I don't know. But they just don't grab me in any significant way.
7. "East of Eden" - Decent tune but, again, the vocal melodies lose me. Plus Enchant's vocalist, Ted Leonard, is too monotonous (this happens a lot throughout the album). The music is very good with just the right amount of keyboards but the instrumental sections of the song go on just a bit too long, bordering on technical masturbation.
8. "Nighttime Sky" - This song really doesn't distinguish itself from the rest of the prog rock/metal pack. It borders on something promising but this promise is never realized. Instead, this mid paced song is forgettable.
9. "Enchanted" - "Enchanted" starts off very promising with a Dream Theater-like opening with heavy guitar and everything but then the song loses me. But fans of Rush and Marillion may have a better appreciation of this tune and, for that matter, the entire album than I do.
10. "Open Eyes" - Yet another song that borders on something potentially good but doesn't quite get there. This song is very much like the album as a whole: good music, near-forgettable vocal melodies.