Whenever I listen to this CD, I picture a madman, sitting down at a black grand piano. A candelabra burns dully just above his music, and I’m somehow vaulted back to the Victorian age.
Flames Rising
Edgar Allan Poe himself would have loved this musical tribute to his works, a tribute that is every bit as timeless as his writings! Highly Recommended!
Gothic Beauty
A superb unleashing by the minstrels of the macabre,
dedicated to master of the macabre.
Draconis
Blackthorne, Fangoria
Timeless... romantically
gorgeous... undeniably majestic... wonderfully chilling!!!
The
Perch
I can't recommend this enough.
Prognaut
One of my favorite releases from Nox Arcana.
Kitley's Krypt
Shadow of the Raven continues in Nox Arcana's
vein of greatness... they delve so deeply into what it truly
must have been like to be Poe, it makes you wonder if Vargo and
Piotrowski aren't actually vampires that at one time shared an
evening with the man, cavorting on the rundown streets of Baltimore.
Horror-Punks.com
First of all...EIGHT albums in four years??! Bravo!
I think one of the reasons I love
Nox Arcana so much is that their versatility for homage to the
dark side is as vast as my own. A true fan of the dark side places
reverence in many places...from Darth Vader to George Romero..
from Frank Frazetta to Edgar Allan Poe. Nox Arcana is intelligent
horror. They see the beauty of the dark side that I have seen
for so many years. Are most fans dorks like me that when they
listen to Nox Arcana's CD's they look up at all the posters on
their walls and fantasize what it might be like to actually attend
a dark carnival, reside in a haunted manor, be a member of the
Sith, or join an army of the walking dead, or to be seduced by
a mesmerizing vampyre? Sci-fi/horror/fantasy fans are the most
loyal, hold the highest standards and maintain the highest reverence
for those who have come before them.
Shadow of the Raven salutes
the king of true Gothic horror, Edgar Allan Poe. In all honesty,
I did sip on Amontillado to prepare myself for this CD, I wasn't
wearing motley, although I wish I had. I love how this band can
go from thundering swords and sorcery as in Blood of the Dragon to the delicate harpsichords such as those featured on track
6 "Haunted Memories" of this album. I like to call
it the dichotomy of darkness. A prominent track to me was track
8 "Legacy of Sorrow;" the relentless melody allows
you to indeed waltz with sorrow personified. The hypnotic allure
of "Masque of Red Death," the beautiful string composition
of "The Raven," all pay homage to a dark side and seem
more melancholy than evil... a sadness in Poe's work captured
in these songs.
I DO know the difference between
sherry and Amontillado and like a fine cask, Vargo and Piotrowski
get better with age. I believe their versatility and willingness
to explore all realms of horror and the dark side is what will
keep Nox Arcana enduring for some time to come.
Alexandra Nakelski, Fangoria
Once upon a midnight dreary, Nox Arcana set out to create a musical tribute to
the literary master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe. The resulting concept album,
Shadow of the Raven is a lush, gothic masterpiece of beauty and darkness. The
21 instrumental tracks cover all of Poe's most famous tales and poems, including "The
Fall of the House of Usher," "The Cask of Amontillado," and of
course, "The Raven." The cd creates a musical tapestry of Victorian
elegance and Gothic nightmares, interweaving haunting piano ballads like "Lenore" with
eerie harpsichord melodies and dark dirges such as "A Dream within a Dream" and "The
Pit and the Pendulum." Tracks like "Melancholia," utilize violins,
ghostly female vocals and tolling bells to accent a somber piano melody while "Masque
of the Red Death" and "Mysteries of the Night" build to dark and
dramatic choruses of orchestra and choir. "Annabel Lee" is a haunting
music box melody that adds a perfect balance to creepy sound-effect tracks like "The
Tell-tale Heart" and "The Black Cat." Shadow of the Raven is a
dark treasure that truly captures the essence of Poe's tormented soul.
Devon King, Dark Realms