Since Enchant is a part of BAR Fest, I thought this would be a good place to talk about the Thought Chamber disk that Ted is singing on.
Man, I LOVE THIS DISK!!! Of course it already had an advantage with Ted being on it since I love his voice. Well, I'm very happy to say that he most definitely does NOT disappoint on this disk! In fact, this is a bit heavier than Enchant's normal offerings, but Ted handles it very well! He such a strong voice and his melody lines are amazing!
However, don't confuse all this gushing about Ted's voice with me being disappointed in the music. HELL NO!! This disk is quality through and through. It is nice to hear something fresh in prog come along like this. Yes, there are moments where you hear "typcial" prog elements and I'd be disappointed if they weren't there, but there are some fresh ideas that I really like too. ALL of the musicians are top-notch and they all deliver the goods. The more I listen to this disk (which is a LOT) the more I discover.
Even though I'm a guitar player I really do love all the instruments so I really do pay attention to all of them when listening to a disk and have favorite moments from all involved.
Being a guitar player I started there and have been very pleasantly surprised. I was not familiar with Michael Harris before this, but man this dude can PLAY! The best part is that he's not the typcial diatonic scale shredder. Can he shred? DEFINITELY! The nice part is that he doesn't subject us with a constant shredfest. You will find great phrasing with good doses of jazz phrasing used. Consider me a fan!
Having known Bobby Williamson for some years now (first through TEOF, then in person from the very first ProgPower in Chicago), I of course had to pay close attention to the keys. I had heard his work with Outworld and thought that was amazing, but I have to say I really like what I'm hearing here! Bobby, you gave an AWESOME perfromance on this disk!
Next, let me focus on Derek Blakley on bass. People, we have another monster on our hands here! This guy delivers on all facets... he's right in the pocket, his walking lines are incredible, there are flurries of notes that are jaw drpping and tastefully placed, his got the whole funk thing when he calls on that, atmosphere, tapping, etc... No doubt, this guy's tool box is PACKED!
Rob Stankiewicz is no slouch either. I remember of hearing about Haji's Kitchen in the 90s, but never really had the chance to check them out. Perhaps that was a mistake based on the performance from this amazing rhythm section!!
As you may have figured by now, I really like this disk! It is my favorite release for 2007 so far. Of course, my favorites Dream Theater and Symphony X both have disks coming out this summer so they'll knock it out of the top honors, but I have no doubt that it will be in my top 10 if not top 5 for this year! I hope to add a new Enchant CD to my collection in the near future too, but I'm not sure if they are expecting to release one this year.
Awesome job and kudos all around guys! 
Man, I LOVE THIS DISK!!! Of course it already had an advantage with Ted being on it since I love his voice. Well, I'm very happy to say that he most definitely does NOT disappoint on this disk! In fact, this is a bit heavier than Enchant's normal offerings, but Ted handles it very well! He such a strong voice and his melody lines are amazing!
However, don't confuse all this gushing about Ted's voice with me being disappointed in the music. HELL NO!! This disk is quality through and through. It is nice to hear something fresh in prog come along like this. Yes, there are moments where you hear "typcial" prog elements and I'd be disappointed if they weren't there, but there are some fresh ideas that I really like too. ALL of the musicians are top-notch and they all deliver the goods. The more I listen to this disk (which is a LOT) the more I discover.
Even though I'm a guitar player I really do love all the instruments so I really do pay attention to all of them when listening to a disk and have favorite moments from all involved.
Being a guitar player I started there and have been very pleasantly surprised. I was not familiar with Michael Harris before this, but man this dude can PLAY! The best part is that he's not the typcial diatonic scale shredder. Can he shred? DEFINITELY! The nice part is that he doesn't subject us with a constant shredfest. You will find great phrasing with good doses of jazz phrasing used. Consider me a fan!
Having known Bobby Williamson for some years now (first through TEOF, then in person from the very first ProgPower in Chicago), I of course had to pay close attention to the keys. I had heard his work with Outworld and thought that was amazing, but I have to say I really like what I'm hearing here! Bobby, you gave an AWESOME perfromance on this disk!
Next, let me focus on Derek Blakley on bass. People, we have another monster on our hands here! This guy delivers on all facets... he's right in the pocket, his walking lines are incredible, there are flurries of notes that are jaw drpping and tastefully placed, his got the whole funk thing when he calls on that, atmosphere, tapping, etc... No doubt, this guy's tool box is PACKED!
Rob Stankiewicz is no slouch either. I remember of hearing about Haji's Kitchen in the 90s, but never really had the chance to check them out. Perhaps that was a mistake based on the performance from this amazing rhythm section!!
As you may have figured by now, I really like this disk! It is my favorite release for 2007 so far. Of course, my favorites Dream Theater and Symphony X both have disks coming out this summer so they'll knock it out of the top honors, but I have no doubt that it will be in my top 10 if not top 5 for this year! I hope to add a new Enchant CD to my collection in the near future too, but I'm not sure if they are expecting to release one this year.
Awesome job and kudos all around guys!
