Turning Virtue
A Temporary Human Experience
(self-released)

Buffalo quartet Turning Virtue has released their latest album, a nine-song collection called A Temporary Human Experience. Opening with “Transcend,” which relies as much on Mark Zonder’s tribal-like drumming as big singable choruses from David Karczewski. Next is “These Things,” a pleading, simple love song. Then comes the heavy prog of “Box of Disappointment” with Karczewski offering his best pleading, from distorted vocals over slicing guitar to acoustic moments (and Carl Cino wailing on his guitar). This band offers a lot to get your ears around. “Fall in Love With the World” and the missing love song “Dreamin’” with Karczewski managing breathy vocals standing in for emotion, feels like 80’s big hair-band stuff; it’s quite different than what prog peaks this band allows on a some of the tunes here. “Theody” is heavy drama with Cino cutting across the low, plodding bottom and Karczewki mainly talking through it. Zonder is well up front on this one, there is the pro-typical double guitar riffing mid-center, nasty Black Sabbath-like middle with voiceover storytelling, and “hu hu’s.” “What’s True” is another heavy guitar and snapping tom tune, but it has a cool, teasing staccato quality that pushes it along nicely, while “Salty Tears,” which ends A Temporary Human Experience, opens with some expressive Cino noodling into picking under what might be Karczewski’s best vocals here. In real prog rock mode, we are in for a few twists and turns here as Cino and Zonde jam with the first real time we hear bassist DPA play.