- Mar 16, 2006
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(...and so begins a monologue thread 
)
Got the album yesterday, the first time Amazon has ever delivered a pre-order of mine on time. Last time I had to wait an additional 9 days. This will be brief as I'm not much for comprehensive reviews.
My first major impression (besides "that's a lot of Doug") was, "Wow, Bill has really discovered himself." There's a lot of cool synth stuff in Circles, particularly towards the end. Bill doesn't sound like he's trying to be anyone else. It's been a long time since a new Enchant album and I'm sure working with Thought Chamber was beneficial.
From the booklet it stood out to me that, excluding the lyrics, the album is composed of a lot of Enchant minus Ted songs, and a couple Ted minus the rest of Enchant songs. I guess the distance thing touched on in the interview video was rather significant. The album still feels cohesive as opposed to fragmented.
If I have to criticize something, it's the usual: No, not the loudness thing--the album is pretty damn loud, but I've seen far more ridiculous spectra. It's the other usual criticism: Auto-tune. It's pretty noticeable in places and, unless someone is using it as an effect rather than a polishing tool, I don't really understand the point when people have home studios where they can try until they get it right without burning through tape or wasting expensive studio time, but, I suppose that ship has sailed.
Standout tracks: Within An Inch, The Great Divide, and Here and Now.
Here and Now is probably my favorite at this point. Track 8 on Blueprint (Nighttime Sky) and track 8 on Wounded (Distractions) are also album favorites of mine, whatever that means. It's moody with quite a few dynamic changes. The layering is intricate but not overbearing and the drums grab my attention (which is a note-worthy effect for a non-drummer like me). It may have made more sense to make this one the final track as it would seem to terminate the album perfectly, but I suppose with the instrumental Prognosticator as a bonus track (apparently not found on some releases?) it was more practical to place it second to last.
It's a solid effort and I have no doubt some of my least favorites will trade places with some of my favorites in a few months or years, because that's just how progressive music works. Try not to wait another decade to put out another one, okay?
)Got the album yesterday, the first time Amazon has ever delivered a pre-order of mine on time. Last time I had to wait an additional 9 days. This will be brief as I'm not much for comprehensive reviews.
My first major impression (besides "that's a lot of Doug") was, "Wow, Bill has really discovered himself." There's a lot of cool synth stuff in Circles, particularly towards the end. Bill doesn't sound like he's trying to be anyone else. It's been a long time since a new Enchant album and I'm sure working with Thought Chamber was beneficial.
From the booklet it stood out to me that, excluding the lyrics, the album is composed of a lot of Enchant minus Ted songs, and a couple Ted minus the rest of Enchant songs. I guess the distance thing touched on in the interview video was rather significant. The album still feels cohesive as opposed to fragmented.
If I have to criticize something, it's the usual: No, not the loudness thing--the album is pretty damn loud, but I've seen far more ridiculous spectra. It's the other usual criticism: Auto-tune. It's pretty noticeable in places and, unless someone is using it as an effect rather than a polishing tool, I don't really understand the point when people have home studios where they can try until they get it right without burning through tape or wasting expensive studio time, but, I suppose that ship has sailed.
Standout tracks: Within An Inch, The Great Divide, and Here and Now.
Here and Now is probably my favorite at this point. Track 8 on Blueprint (Nighttime Sky) and track 8 on Wounded (Distractions) are also album favorites of mine, whatever that means. It's moody with quite a few dynamic changes. The layering is intricate but not overbearing and the drums grab my attention (which is a note-worthy effect for a non-drummer like me). It may have made more sense to make this one the final track as it would seem to terminate the album perfectly, but I suppose with the instrumental Prognosticator as a bonus track (apparently not found on some releases?) it was more practical to place it second to last.
It's a solid effort and I have no doubt some of my least favorites will trade places with some of my favorites in a few months or years, because that's just how progressive music works. Try not to wait another decade to put out another one, okay?
