Review of The Underliving in GOTHIC PARADISE

Excerpt: Click in the link to read it full in Gothic Paradise website

he Underliving - Review

After a very long and anxious wait, we're finally presented with the latest album from this multi-talented artist. I've been following Priscilla's activities over the years, so I knew an album was coming and as many fans from facebook and other areas know, this release has included a lot of hard work and sacrifice and we're the beneficiaries of it all with 18 stunning tracks once again coming together in a beautiful package. We have not only the music, but also original artwork from the artist in a large, beautiful booklet as well.

After being introduced to the fairy world of Priscilla Hernandez in her debut album, it's no surprise, and certainly a relief that she remains true to her beautiful ethereal roots. The mysterious beauty shines through with the entire album from the dark and haunting pieces like "Off The Lane" which is a sort of single or highlight from the album also featuring a video on the artist's website, but also "The Wind Song" with it's pulsating undertow mixed with the various chimes, flutes and whistles for a spooky feel, yet grounded in the dreamy ethereal moods. Many other tracks like these introduce us to the world of "The Underliving", the mysterious secret creatures out of a mystical storybook. The title track presents this theme well after the beautiful introductory piece "In The Mist", a definite favorite from this album with the dreamy, ethereal styles presented with various neo-classical elements at their best. But after this heavenly piece, the somewhat precocious nature of the sprites and fairies seem to come out in the happy, yet mischevious and haunting title track as mentioned before.

There is way to much material here to cover everything in detail, but just with the previous descriptions I think the reader can get the idea of what's presented here overall. It entails a good mix from the dark and haunting, to the beautiful heavenly voices and dreamy tracks. Favorites include the aforementioned pieces, in fact it's hard to point out all favorites as the entire album contains great pieces. However, there are still a few more that stand out for me personally, maybe based on my own tastes more than due to any quality factor or flaws of any kind. Priscilla is very talented, and all of those talents shine through these pieces through the use of various electronics coupled with a number of organic instruments. As the album drifts along, the dreamier, ethereal pieces stand out for me such as "Don't Be Sad" with it's cello and mix of various soft electronica sounds. "Northern Lights" also quickly became a favorite with it's mystical style and Priscilla's hauntingly beautiful vocals. The piano coupled with these vocals on the next piece "Morning Light" also makes me swoon. The dedication to Kira in "Good Night Kira" features about the only spanish I could pick up on the album and that's just in closing. The absence of any tracks in spanish besides that little bit was something I missed and really enjoyed was the lone spanish piece on the previous album.

The album wraps up in pure beauty and mistery, loneliness, hope and love all eminate from this masterpiece. It's great to have another excellent from this talented artist. We look forward to many years of enjoyment from this disc as well as hopefully more music to come in the future.

Rating: 4.5/5