Prog rock can be prone to wild mood swings and Turning Virtue exhibit this rather swimmingly on their full length A Temporary Human Experience. Within one song, they easily sway between quixotically romantic, sneeringly sinister, and pensively ponderous while keeping a certain sense of no-frills rock ‘n’ roll at their core; a feat almost unheard of in modern prog. That’s not to say they really sacrifice the virtuoso flourishes so beloved by fans of the genre but rather they temper it with some straightforward impact.
The album hits the ground running with its lead-off single and one of its strongest tracks, the continuously climbing “Transcend.” The track pulls itself up, powered by determination and bold guitar work, focusing on new zeniths and only pausing to rest on majestic plateaus. While the album presents a myriad of moods, the urgency of “Transcend” seems to set a tone that permeates the full record; sometimes as an undercurrent, other times as an overwhelming force.