When I hear an album like Enchant's Break, my immediate response is one of pleasing bewilderment, which probably gives away the fact that Enchant is one of my favorite bands ever. Favoritism aside, however, Break is the greatest masterpiece that the band has released, benefiting from being one of the best progressive rock albums ever made as well, which owes a lot to the band achieving an unparalleled sound and feeling by pouring its heart out into every song on the album. On thisrecord, as usual, the group changed its approach completely, with a result of enhanced focus on the track's structures as individual pieces that make up a whole. In other words, Enchant's members concentrate in giving each and every song exactly what it needs instead of indulging in hedonistic solos or the "look at me, I'm a virtuoso!" approach. That means that the band makes do without most of the usual prog rock techniques and approaches, but that's exactly what makes it rise above the rest and push the scene's boundaries to explore new limits, which is what it should be about in the first place, right?

The album begins with "Break," a track that starts out quite moodily with a keyboard and guitar section designed to relax the listener before all hell breaks loose with some incredible distorted guitars that conform an enormous sonic attack. By the time the middle section arrives, the song has progressed through very intense time signatures that lead into extremely emotional melodies, which transmits the song's feelings across quite effectively; one of Enchant's strongest playing cards. The song's structure is actually quite simple, but its arrangements, melodies, and fills just take it to an entirely different level. Then comes "King," which kicks off immediately with a powerful sound that develops quite nicely with some variations during the verses and a somewhat constant, yet incredible, vocal melody. It is one of the album's heaviest moments, while retaining a truly impressive sound throughout its entirety.

The album's third track is the intense and extremely emotional "My Enemy," a song which's lyrics touch on the sensitive subject of one's own fears and being able to take risks and reassure one's own self-esteem. Singer Ted Leonard's work with the lyrics clearly shows that the band can handle this kind of topic with ease and caution in order to gracefully place it into a song, which results even more impacting when every single melody is amazing and Doug Ott's guitar lines and solo scream with pure emotion. The next song, "Defenseless," continues in a similar avenue by dealing with another fragile and personal topic for the band: dealing with drugs and other addictions. As soon as the track starts, one becomes immersed in an emotional state that is guided through the music and a guitar melody that is full of raw emotion…Utterly indescribable, really. The song then mellows out throughout the verses, with an arpeggiated guitar leading the way and then giving way to Leonard's brilliant vocal melodies, in which he completely pours his soul into the lyrics. Also of important notice is the way Paul Craddick fills every missing spot with his drumming, certainly a labor of love.

Then comes "The Lizard," which begins with a great heavy arrangement on behalf of the keyboards and guitar, in which both complement each other completely and make for quick impact. The music then proceeds to fade out a bit during verse in order to give vocals their due space, and the fills are rather expressive, varying during each verse so that the song is given and intriguing nature and added ways to develop. I particularly like Paul's drumming during this song, which focuses, like the rest of the band, on giving the song exactly what it needs in each section. It is the following song, "Surrounded," however, that really shows what the whole band is all about, shining with an amazing sound and melody that derive from a fairly simple structure. Back to basics works for these guys indeed, something that is proven by the way the band manages to maintain an interesting sound through layers and layers of instruments and fills. Then "Silence" explodes with a synth melody that is quickly followed by Doug's guitar before the music relaxes in order to conform to the usual complex arrangement, which makes for another extremely emotional track that gets more and more involving as it progresses.

The next song, "In the Dark," starts off with an unpredictable arrangement that becomes smoother right after the intro. To my taste, the guitar and vocal lines couldn't have been bonded better, and, with the melodies (especially the vocal one) creating a deeply moving song yet again, the song's closure leave one wanting for more, which fortunately, there is in the masterpiece "My Gavel Hand." The aforementioned track in particular takes Enchant to a whole new level as it progresses, starting off with a simple power chord intro that is responsible for an enormous atmosphere which in turn only benefits the song before reaching its chorus: simple, direct, with a great melody, just right. By the song's final verses, the mood that the band reaches is so big that it just gets to one.

One then arrives at the breathtaking "The Cross," probably my personal favorite. Actually, my personal favorite probably varies from time to time, since every song on the album is amazing and one can always find new ways of looking at Enchant songs; even after hearing them tons of times…well, anyway, back to the song! "The Cross" kicks off with a pounding drumbeat by Paul, after which guitars, synths, and bass join in with a great riff. The same chord structure is then played during the verses with a clean sound in order to give the vocals priority. Nice. The distortion returns with the pre-chorus, and when we finally reach the chorus, man…I'm left speechless! Then, after some verses have gone by, the track shifts into an acoustic feel that's absolutely indescribable, with the vocal melody leading the way in a searing release of emotion. Doug's solo is also responsible for taking the song to a higher level, which was anyways to be expected since that is what always happens with the band.

And with the track's ideal sense of closure, which comes from its ending melody, it's pretty much the ending of Break. Unless, of course, you own the album with the bonus track "Once a Week" on it, which I hope you do, since it's as good as any of the other songs. The intro line consists of a piano melody accompanied by acoustic guitar, and the track remains in a mellow acoustic nature that resounds with emotion and feeling; a characteristic that is particularly apparent in the song's chorus.

I usually think that words don't do music much good, as the only way of really experiencing music is by listening to it, something that I really have to emphasize with Break. I just believe that one is never truly intrigued after reading a critic's opinion, unless one has heard the analyzed band previously (yes, I know you think I'm contradicting myself because I'm the critic here, but it's true, music is intended to be heard, and not read). But let me write that Enchant is the kind of group that makes such an intense and moving song that one can't really perceive its whole essence at first listen, which means that the band, especially on this album, requires a very serious listen in order to really capture the numerous tiny details that constitute the band's music and the feeling that is expressed therein. Truly amazing music is characterized by the creation of an emotional bond with the listener and the introduction of something new, intriguing, and emotional after each listen. That's what Enchant is all about.

-by Javier Elizondo