The Reasoning, the group led by Matthew Cohen and his beautiful wife Rachel have released their new album entitled Dark Angel. It’s their second disc after last spring’s release, Awakening, on which Steve Rothery of Marillion himself played. This time, they were recording on their own, with a slight change in the line-up only: the guitarist Lee Wright was replaced by Owain Roberts.
Last year The Reasoning caught attention of the audience by a very good debut and they were hailed as one of the most interesting new bands that had appeared on British prog rock scene for many years. After listening to the new album a couple of times, I know that Dark Angel is equally good and equally wonderful. It’s simply a very well-done album, very expressive and original. It’s because the band is not ordinary in many ways. First of all, they have an unusual treasure in their ranks: Rachel Cohen. One doesn’t know whether to marvel at her beauty or her superb singing. Speaking of vocals, The Reasoning has two excellent singers, except for Rachel’s. Both the guitarist Dylan Thompson and keyboard player Gareth Jones are endowed with vocal talents beyond the average, to say the least. Rachel’s voice is in the centre of our attention all the time, but in many compositions we may actually hear very good duets and trios. Doubtless, they all are the band’s enourmous assets.
Eponymously, Dark Angel is much darker and rockier than its precedent – but not for a while does it stop to be full of melodies typical of The Reasoning and the ideal balance between dynamic and lyrical moments. It starts with a good, heavy title number – a great opener. Rachel’s voice shines in all splendour, and a weeping gitar solo brings the composition on the very high level. After this dynamic beginning, we hear an abrupt silence and the sound of sparkling sea begin the track “Sharp Sea”. The mellow beginning stands in contrast with the augmenting wall of keyboard sounds and at times a peaceful, at times dynamically accumulating atmosphere of the whole. Here, Rachel is accompanied by Dylan, and one cannot help but applaud their duets. Third track, “How Far To Fall” is a classic ballad, sung by Gareth and Rachel. It is followed by an instrumental miniature called “Serenity” with a nice part of acoustic guitar and whispering voices from intercom somewhere in the background. It is an introduction to probably the most controversial, but also the most refined composition on the album: “Call Me God?”. A very dynamic track, where the Dylan’s voice reigns. It’s very effective track, different from the rest of material on the album. While listening to it, I was haunted by an association that it is a kind of “punk prog”, though I know that it’s probably rather hard to imagine such a strange hybrid. That’s why this track should be listened to in a very attentive and scrupulous way – then this phrase won’t seem so bizarre.
After “Call Me God?” there is a series of three ballads. In “In The Future” in the leading vocal role, we can hear Dylan, whose a little hoarse voice creates a very special atmosphere, which is compounded by the sensational backing vocals by Rachel. “Absolute Zero” is a lyrical number sung by Gareth – who does in a truly wonderful way – and again Rachel and Dylan are phenomenal in the backing vocals. The next composition is “Breaking The 4th Wall”. I guess that it is the most beautiful and melodic track on the whole album. Rachel’s singing brings the best Karnataka’s years to mind, and her duets with Gareth Jones are the real musical championship of the world. What needs mentioning is also the wonderful guitar solo played by Owain Roberts. A great track. After it, the only thing left is a dark epic kept in the spirit of classical Led Zeppelin, “A Musing Dream”. During almost 10 minutes there is so much happening there that it could constitute a material for more than one album. Dylan Thompson sings wonderfully and I would like to bring two very effective solo parts to the listeners’ attention. The first one is played on a harmonica (!), and the other on a guitar. Both are not only surprising but also played with an unimaginable flow, crowning the new work of The Reasoning in a very momentous way.
This track ends unexpectedly, as if encouraging us to the next listening to the whole album. All in all, opening “Dark Angel” begins with almost the same sounds as “A Musing Dream” ends with…
PS. I am the owner of the limited edition of this album, which is expanded by an extra DVD disc. Its main part consists of the documentary “The Making Of Dark Angel”, which is a grand interview with the main composer of the tracks on the album – Matthew Cohen. In features section one can watch a funny film “The Reasoning Untrousered”, photo gallery and also a short live performance of the band, registered in Cambridge in 2007. Just a little dessert to the main course in the form of the new album with nine very successful tracks. Believe me, it’s very delicious.
Translated by Kasia Chachlowska
