Enchant explain 10-year silence

Enchant guitarist Doug Ott has explained why the band fell silent for 10 years, saying “life got in the way” of their career plans.

They return with The Great Divide, their first studio album since 2003’s Tug Of War, with a new lineup featuring Ott, vocalist Ted Leonard (Spock’s Beard, Thought Chamber), bassist Ed Platt, keyboardist Bill Jenkins (Sound Of Contact, Thought Chamber) and drummer Sean Flanegan (Cynthesis).

Ott says: “We never planned to take a break at all. People got married, people got divorced, people had children, jobs came and went. It was always in the back of our mind that we’d continue.

“We got together and played a few shows here and there. But it wasn’t until two years ago that we started thinking we could actually make another record – something worth the stuff we’d done in the past.”

He admits their first studio steps were “a little wobbly,” but adds: “The writing part of it wasn’t too hard; it was just, ‘Can we all get together in the same room?’ Five different people with five different lives living in five different cities – it’s kind of hard to gather together.”

The album is named after one of their favourite tracks. “It really came together in a way that we were really proud of,” says Ott. “It seemed like a good title for the record too. It was almost like we had traversed something to get to the other side and now we’re finally back on the other side again.”

Enchant released lead track Within An Inch earlier this month. The Great Divide is released on September 29 via InsideOut and it’s available for pre-order now.