Review of Virgil Franklin’s Dark Hollow CD

This CD, done by Virgil Franklin, is my first experience with his work. And as with all albums there were some good ones and some bad ones. He starts off the CD with one of his better masterpieces which is titled after the album. “Dark Hollow” has a great intro. I especially like how Virgil adds more instruments into the piece as he leads us to believe there’s something going to happen. Virgil’s piece titled “Voices From Beyond” has a piano playing most of the time but at some points it seems to overshadow the rest and therefore doesn’t sync in as well at times.

Unfortunately, the album also had some misses. “Lair of the Unknown” sounded like it was taken from a video game and both “Misery Resides Here” and “Catacombs” seemed a bit drawn out. However, Virgil made up for these misses with some other great pieces. The kids singing in “Buried Memories really does give you that eerie feeling. A similar feeling occurred when listening to “Sacrifices” with the chanting. Finally, what separates Virgil from the rest is how he ends his pieces, which seems to be his forte. One of his better endings came in “Buried Memories” as he lets the music die down first as the child continues to sing then lets the music drift away. All in all it is a pretty good CD to get you into the haunting mood.

By Slaughtering Siam