Reviewed by Paul Poulton

It's been a while since the winner of VH1's Born To Diva has released a gospel album. This is Tarralyn's second album not counting the R&B project which came after the VH1 outing. The big feature of 'Beyond The Darkness' is without doubt the articulate voice of Tarralyn, it has agility, strength and quite a range; when it dips into alto territory it's quite delectable, alas, it dips its feet into the waters of the lower register infrequently, but when it does it's worth waiting for. If the voice is the ample filling of the sandwich then the instrumentation is thinly sliced bread, the songs really need a little more support from a thicker groove. "Ain't Nobody Like Him" is a great radio song, even though the backing vocals seem like they are struggling to get all the syllables in, the bass guitar also struggles to keep up but the feel is one of excitement and fun. It may be because this is a project that has been overseen by a small studio crew, and the first on the singer's own label that 'Beyond The Darkness' lacks the production sheen necessary to put it in the charts. But having said that, it still demonstrates the singer's tremendous pipes. Even though Tarralyn's recorded output has been sparse over the last few years, she has continued leading worship and it shows on this album. "Faultless" is a moving prayer executed with emotive passion.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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