Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography

ADVERSE CAMBER

The Reasoning

Crossover Prog


From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

The Reasoning Adverse Camber album cover
3.26 | 44 ratings | 4 reviews | 5% 5 stars

Good, but non-essential

Write a review

Buy THE REASONING Music
from Progarchives.com partners
Studio Album, released in 2010

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Diamonds and Leather (6:01)
2. The Nobody Effect (7:04)
3. The Thirteenth Hour (7:44)
4. Through the Now (7:53)
5. Script-Switch Trigger (5:53)
6. 14 (6:55)

Total time: 40:30

Line-up / Musicians

- Rachel Jones / vocals, percussion
- Maria Owen / vocals
- Dylan Thompson / electric & acoustic guitars, mandolin, vocals
- Owain Roberts / guitar
- Tony Turrel / keyboards & backing vocals
- Matthew Cohen / bass, mandolin, percussion, backing vocals, producer
- Jake Bradford-Sharp / drums, percussion

Releases information

CD Comet Music ‎- CM040510 (2010, UK)

Thanks to sleeper for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
Edit this entry

Buy THE REASONING Adverse Camber Music



THE REASONING Adverse Camber ratings distribution


3.26
(44 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(5%)
5%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(32%)
32%
Good, but non-essential (50%)
50%
Collectors/fans only (14%)
14%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

THE REASONING Adverse Camber reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by lazland
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars The brand new LP from South Wales band, The Reasoning, this is a cracker. Recently highlighted on a BBC Radio Wales session, which I'm sure won them lots of new fans, the band will be familiar to fans of both Marillion & Fish, who they have supported on recent tours. However, whilst fans of both will continue to warm to this band, that statement is not to say that they only appeal to neo prog fans, or that their music is somehow derivative, because neither statement is true. This band have created their very own sound, and Adverse Camber continues that trend very strongly.

There is all sorts for prog fans to enjoy here. There are some extremely heavy passages, interspersed with warm, melodic passages, and through it all rises the beautiful voice of Rachel Cohen, a singer who is growing with stature and authority at every turn.

An extremely good example is the second track, The Nobody Effect, where her gentle and warm vocals take charge of a track laden with fantastic heavy riffs. This will appeal to fans of bands as diverse as Rush and Mostly Autumn, and I especially love the chorus. The heavy riffs could, in another band, create an atmosphere of doom & death, but not with this band. In fact, I find the entire album to be exceptionally uplifting.

Tracks such as The Thirteenth Hour move along at an incredible pace, with vocals, harmonies, rhythm, and bass section combining to produce a prog masterpiece. The acoustic set was very good, but to appreciate the band as they really are, the full, electric versions have to be heard.

No track on the album is longer than 8 minutes, but all somehow have an epic feel. Through The Now, at 7:53, is a very good example. This is a more melodic track, and Dylan Thompson & Rachel combine vocals to ethereal and marvellous effect. There are some wonderful guitar licks, with mandolin thrown in to great effect. This track also gives a great example of the uplifting feel to the whole album - "On this journey through the now, Don't be scared to look down, There's a time and a place to wear a smile upon your face". Indeed. The track closes with the most gorgeous guitar solo, overpinned by vocal screams. Epic in intent and execution, this is a true classic of modern prog.

The quieter mood also comes through on Script-Switch Trigger, which again features some gentle and ethereal vocals, this time with a melodic and ballady background. Matthew Cohen's bass guitar is especially strong on this track, played almost in a Squire fashion, by which I mean the instrument is played as a lead instrument, rather than mere rhythm backing. The guitar solos here complement the track, rather than being an exercise in playing for its own sake. This track builds towards a huge denouement, a wall of sound created, before falling back to its gentle acoustic start.

The heavier feel returns with the album closer, 14. Another bright and lively track, this is a solid closer.

This album is more than a worthy follow up to the deservedly highly rated Dark Angel. It is an important progression from that album. This band are beginning to create a unique sound and attitude to their music, and I would highly recommend it to all prog followers reading this review and visiting the site.

This is an excellent addition to any prog collection, and worthy of a 4 star rating, although 4.5 if I could give such a rating.

By the way, eagle eyed CD buyers will see Mrs Lazland and the reviewer given a credit by the band, following a competition we entered to have our photograph taken for the CD cover. My thanks to the band, Graemeh, and Rushfan4 for this.

Review by Nightfly
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars After the excellent Dark Angel, released in 2008 I was expecting great things from The Reasoning with their new album Adverse Camber. It's a solid collection of songs but I have to admit to being slightly disappointed.

Despite some line up changes in the band, including the addition of Maria Owen to provide backing vocals, musically it's pretty much business as usual where the bands melodic rock template is spiced up with prog overtones. That's to say not overly complex but with enough changes and light and shade moments to add some interest. If there is a difference then I would say that the songs at times are slightly heavier and Rachel Cohen takes the lead vocals more.

At only just over forty minutes with six tracks it's a pretty short album by modern standards. All the more annoying then that despite being fairly consistently good there's only one outstanding track that I feel matches the highlights of Dark Angel's title track or Call Me God? to name just two from that strong release. The best here comes at the end with 14 where they combine some heavy guitar work which drifts into metal territory with some strong hooks, dynamics and good use of vocal harmonies between the girls and male singers of the band. A few more like this and we would have had a real winner.

The Reasoning are no doubt about it a talented band but if they want to progress up the prog ladder they'll need to come back with a killer album next time. Adverse Camber whilst unlikely to lose them any fans probably won't win them many new ones either. With new prog bands seemingly appearing every week in this current revival of the genre, the market of bands vying for your hard earned cash is if anything over-saturated. I hope that the expected second album that's to appear from The Reasoning this year delivers what's needed to make them stand out from the crowd.

Review by lor68
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars Well this is probably their best issue so far (since their year of foundation, 2005), even though this is a Neo-Prog effort in the vein of some recent albums by Fish or also the modern Marillion, but according anyway to a style of their own...as I told you recently that- for instance- Porcupine Tree seem a new edited and "musically-corrected" version of a floydian ensemble, in the same manner T.R. seem a new "reading"- key, regarding the late Neo Prog stuff from the UK. Besides the female vocalist- Maria Owen- is not bad and, in spite of a diverse impact in comparison to a few more "prog psychedelic" bands, which have been always so much influenced by Pink Floyd (or also regarding of a delicate touch used in an alternating strong mood a-la Magenta, here almost definitively lacking), T.R. anyway have been able to trace a personal path. They are creative, not an innovative ensemble of progressive rock, but They have got a great experience in the last years; so- for me- this feature alone could be enough to let us decide to check this "Adverse Camber" out, at least!!

Note: I like to make a special mention for the original imagine of the album cover which, combined with the personality of the musicians, let me think of adding an half star in the final score!!

Review by b_olariu
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars The lastest album to dat of The Reasoning from 2010 named Adverse camber issued at same Comet Music is lets say ok, little more mainstream to my ears, but aswell keeping the same attitude of the previous album. Again this kind of prog aproach of the band gives me hard times listning to it, really , crossover prog with gothic feel is not for me. The album is for sure less prog metalic like previous album, the band concentrated more on melodic side this time with some exceptions like ending track 14, well not bad entirely but the pieces are totaly unmemorable to me. Eh, this is a modern album with modern sound and with modern prog, if I can call it prog, a thing I can't appreciate to full capacity, really, to much time they want to sound like Muse or Porcupine Tree. No a piece is in front , all are almost mediocre at best, only the cover ar save the album from being a total desater. Hardly 3 stars, I'll give 3 stars because there are some ok parts, but overall is far less intristing then many album I've gave 3 stars, and weakest then Dark angel for sure. Forgetable album IMO with no creative arragements, not great musicianship, is almost a simple album to listen in the background.

Latest members reviews

No review or rating for the moment | Submit a review

Post a review of THE REASONING "Adverse Camber"

You must be a forum member to post a review, please register here if you are not.

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.