By DOTTIE PARIS – Turning Virtue, from Buffalo, N.Y., is more than a cool band with a shoegaze-alternative style.  The guys are connected to a higher spiritual level.

At least that’s the impression this group wants to give. One clue: The name of their new album, A Temporary Human Experience, comes from Wayne Dyer Ph.D.  Pretty heady stuff, but nonetheless a good and important message.

Trying to communicate with the true beings of others and ignoring their exterior is the goal and the music certainly cuts through any Earthly facades.

The band is made up of David Karczewski on vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass; Carl Cino on guitar and Mark Zonder on drums. They all got together through friends and the common need for soul searching and desire to create cool music.

The songs like “Transcend” and “Fall In Love With the World” rock out and show what the band members can do when they’re not pondering the fate of human existence.  The mellow and introspective “These Things” could easily be on a top alternative chart.

World class drummer Mark Zonder (ex-Fates Warning current Warlord) was recruited and he lends a deep resonance to the music.

The band finished recording A Temporary Human Experience at MFB studio and then brought in Tim Palmer, one of the most well-regarded mixing engineers in the world. Palmer has worked with Porcupine Tree, Pearl Jam, U2, Robert Plant and David Bowie among others.

The CD was mastered by another great: Andy VanDette, who has worked with Steven Wilson, Porcupine Tree, Rush, Dream Theater and Fates Warning.

With all the talent on board, the result is a collection of nine songs that range from deeply melodic to upbeat and rockin, that take the listener on a 47-minute-journey into another world.

While A Temporary Human Experience is a well-crafted record, it also aspires to lift the populous to a better world.  A challenging, but respectable and noble goal.