• The Enchanted is a new promising band from England that managed to blow my head off with their tight, heavy sound. If you ask me their debut cd is a must have album to all extreme (and not only) metal fans. This is a statement I wanted to make. So, no other prologue for this interview...Just proceed...

• The Current Line up for The Enchanted is:
• Tony-Guitar/Vocals
• Robb-Guitar/Vocals
• Daryl- Bass
• Jamie-Drums
• Just recently we have had quite a few important moments. We released our first album in March (Which we got to record at Akercocke's "Goat of Mendes" studio). We played the 2001 Terrorizer Xmas bash and we are playing our first overseas gig in Dublin on the 28th Sept.

• The name was chosen because as well as it sounding good (or so we thought) it would provoke images and make people think. We see it as having two sides; like a yin and yang; fire and ice, as enchantments can be both good and bad. I think the choice of band name for any band is very important as it is the first thing that people see or hear about in most cases and sometimes can turn people on to or off of your music.

• Some of my favourite bands are Opeth, Pestilence, Atheist, Autopsy among others, I find it very hard to choose a favourite. At the moment I have been listening to a band called Psycroptic (from Australia) and a band called Celestial Crown (from Estonia).  Both of these are unsigned acts but are well cool. For more info on our favourite albums you can check out our web site http://www.sinisterweb.co.uk/enchanted/

• It is always difficult to describe your own music, the only thing we definitely are is Metal. We are influenced by most forms of Metal but mostly by the more Thrashier bands. We have been compared to many bands, some common ones being At The Gates and Iron Maiden. Spiritualism is an important part to any (True) music as writing music is basically channelling inspiration from the great unknown. Music is a very magical experience, be it playing or listening to it and we wanted to capture this feeling with all that we do. Music can be a very powerful tool and can have a big impact on people and their moods and feelings. We weren't saying we were unique in the way we write the music but more in how we view and appreciate the music.

• We have come very far with the album, on the first 2 demos we had female vocals (A different vocalist on each) and as such recorded the songs which best showcased that sound. This meant that the slower songs were recorded at this time, and our more melodic side was what most people heard. The album on the other hand is a lot more 'in your face', and a lot truer to how we were sounding live. There is still a lot of melody there but we didn't have to hold back as much with not having the female vocals to bear in mind. We are re-releasing our Demos re-mastered on CD in the next couple of months (Under the name Equinox), and as soon as we have the money we would love to start work on our E.P (Alcoholocaust) which will feature 4 new songs. Over all I think that although the idea hasn't changed much, the music has just got tighter, more refined and has progressed in all areas. The heavy bits seem to get heavier, the doomy bits doomier and so on.  We just hold on and see where the inspiration takes us.

• Robb and I write the lyrics at the moment and these vary in influence quite a bit at the moment. We both take influence from fantasy in a big way but there is also influence from philosophy, religion and other sources. The Title "Trust in Death and Rebirth" was suggested by Robb and we all liked it, I think the idea of rebirth is something a lot of people are interested in. The album title can be understood in many ways and there is no right or wrong way to read it. To us the title is more important now than it was when Robb suggested the name as we went through a 6 month period of inactivity shortly after Jamie had joined.  This was for a mixture of reasons, mainly financial. At this time we all thought it was the end for The Enchanted, but we turned it around and I think in the end it just made us more determined. To us this is why the name is important as the album release was the full rebirth of The Enchanted and it felt better than ever.

• As I mentioned earlier true music is a very spiritual affair and obviously so is the Occult, Mysticism  and Religion. I do not find it surprising in the least that these idea's crop up again and again in Metal.

• The typical The Enchanted Live show is not far removed from many a Metal gig there just is a lot of importance put on creating a good vibe and having a good time. I think after Black Metal took off in a big way in the 90's a lot of the community forgot how to have a good time and enjoy the music for the music's sake and not over emphasising the image. We love drinking ale and playing the music that we enjoy, especially when the audience seems to enjoy it as well - it is a great feeling. We do play a lot live, this is mainly because we see this as the most important thing (At least for The Enchanted) we feel our music is best listened to in the live environment this is when the best atmosphere is created. We do also sell our CD's and T-shirts at gig's and will soon have the album available on Vinyl as well. Our CD is now stocked by many underground distro's and shops and we hope to add more to the list. (Check out our site for more details). We also hope to start playing in Europe regularly.

• There is no one song that captures all The Enchanted have to offer although "Facing The Beast" is one that is a lot of people's favourite, both from the album and played live, so this would be the closest to the mark I reckon.

• The reactions to the CD so far have been great, both from fans and from press which is really encouraging. We are all happy with the album and how it turned out, although there are things we have learned and things we would like to improve upon.  Overall, I think the vocals could have sounded better and maybe would have benefited from more time, but this is something we can place importance on next time we record. I cannot think of a worst part as I say there is nothing we are really unhappy with.  We just know that we can maybe make the next recording that little bit better and keep improving upon what we have already done.

• Martin got in touch with us and asked if we would like to record there and we jumped at the chance. It was as simple as that!

• Vae Solis, Slavestate, The Belonging, Solace Denied, Epitaph, Skaldic Curse, Bloodstream.  The list goes on!  There are a lot of talented unsigned acts in the UK at the moment, and it's a shame there aren't enough fans to support them all.

• We would probably go for something a little unusual. It's a difficult question to answer... Something that went with the story the lyrics were telling and something people would remember. I think between us we would have a lot of good ideas for Music videos. In fact it's some thing we have recently been discussing.  Obviously for us at the moment there wouldn't be a big budget for us to play with but I reckon it would be fun to do. We may have a CD-ROM video on the Alcoholocaust e.p when we release it, so watch this space.

• The way I see it is there are a lot of bad people in the world of all colours, religions and backgrounds. No one race is responsible for all the hate and destruction in the world. How I see it is that the majority of the damage has been caused by organised religion. It has been used as a powerful tool to control people and to cause damage to others and to The Mother Earth. I have no fondness towards people who destroy our world and place a higher importance on the accumulation of wealth rather than the preservation of life and view these as my enemies.

• I would like to live in a world with more respect. People would do well to respect each other and their surroundings. This does not mean letting people walk all over you, and I am all for harshly defending your space and using all within your power to protect family and friends.

• Why did you do it?

17.IF TIME TRAVEL WAS POSSIBLE, WHICH HISTORICAL PERIOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT AND WHY? WHAT WOULD YOU MISS THE MOST FROM OUR TIME?

• I would like to go back to the time King Arthur was (according to legend) the Ruler of England, to see how much was true and to hopefully meet him and Merlin. I would miss decent amplification, electricity, my electric guitar and my record player.

• It is a shame sometimes that it is interpreted that way as all album charts and the like give you an indication of is the financial success of the release. There is a big difference between popularity and artistic value.  In this respect other musical styles such as Jazz have a lot in common with Metal. Fans are like connoisseurs who appreciate a good wine - the average Metal or Jazz fan will enjoy the music for its artistic value. Pop music is the cheap wine that sells well through super market chains.

• I really can't think of anything for this one.

• Thank you for the interview, I found the questions interesting and enjoyed answering them. To all the people reading this interview, check  out The Enchanted. Hopefully we shall be playing a venue near you soon so come along, keep supporting the Metal scene and keep having fun.
• Tony
• The Enchanted
• http://www.sinisterweb.co.uk/enchanted/