Ancient Shadows review in NEW AGE REPORTER by R. J. Lannan

Stories You Never Dreamed About

Reviewed by R.J. Lannan

Rating: Very good (4.5/5)

Read the online review at NEW AGE REPORTER or NUEVASMUSICAS

I believe that everything good has an opposite that is evil. I have recently learned that a land noted for enchantment, light and goodness has a dark, shadowy side. This is the place that Priscilla Hernandez writes and sings about. A fairyland that sustains not only everything that makes up our golden dreams, but also the little known ambiguous world where sometimes evil lives right on the edge of winning a battle for our dreams. It is the land we sometimes label nightmares. Her album is called Ancient Shadows and it represents a growing genre called New Age/GothIt is awe inspiring.

Priscilla Hernandez is a composer, performer and a talented illustrator. Ancient Shadows is not a project that Hernandez has entered into lightly. It has been a part of her since 1994, a time when she was just a teenager. A time when confusion and identity are our biggest concerns, and yet Priscilla had a clear vision of what she wanted to do musically. She moved from the Canary Islands to Barcelona , Spain to be in a more metropolitan setting that would help foster her dreams of musical success.

Her previous album I Steal the Leaves (also a track on this album) met with a modicum of achievement, but it was a practice run for her. Ancient Shadows is the music that is really going to do it for this musician. Sometime in your life you must wonder if you are living a dream or if your dreams affect your life. The duality is confusing for even the most mature intellects and it sometimes causes your head to spin and your heart to be uneasy. You can explore Facing the Dream the opening cut that starts out with a banshee wail and then a chilling echo of Priscilla's ethereal voice. It segues brightly into the track Away which is the musical discovery of the fear and insecurity you feel when your world crumbles around you. All that you assumed as solid is not. All that is liquid becomes gaseous and all your beliefs become mist. However, you must continue into the mist to find your destiny. I may have listened to the title cut Ancient Shadows at least a hundred times. It has a liquid sensuality that draws you into the Goth/groove music only to get you lost in the battle between good and evil. The fairy and the ghost oppose each other like chess pieces on squares of lightness and dark but both vying for your soul’s attentions.

Priscilla's voice has a sweet quality to it somewhat like Candace Night, but with a sharper tone. Possibly the song that started the whole concept and written when she was twelve years old, I Steal the Leaves is a tune about balance. Balance in nature, in life, and in the worlds in between. Sweet harp, robust bass and a strong vocal make this song one of the best on Ancient Shadows.

Buried deep in the lyric is the promise of hope even though dark forces tug at you from every direction. Sueño Muerto (Dead Dreams) is a very remarkable track. Sung entirely in sweet romance Spanish it is the story of haunting dreams, dreams of death and the search for your soul in a land where everywhere you turn there is either a bottomless abyss, an insurmountable wall or your own mystified disbelief as an impediment. There is some unsettling music on this album too such as the tracks Nothing, Haunted, and Nightmare.

The final cut Facing the Dream (Closing Credits) is rather frightening with voices that whisper and vie for the attention of your spirit. But like the rest of the recording, it is mesmerizing. Priscilla Hernandez' music is fascinating because it takes the land of faeries into a different kingdom other than the territory of the Celts. There is but a smattering of Celtic music on this album and yet this unique recording remains completely complimentary to the music we love. Perhaps it goes a step further into the twilight realm with its musically surreal shades of dark and light.

On a closing note, Hernandez has filled her bi-lingual liner notes and CD jacket with some awe-inspiring fantasy artwork that has to be seen to be appreciated. I highly recommend this album as something very different, but quite enjoyable.