Beautifully dark
Christmas hymns with a gothic touch. A classic masterpiece of
timelessness. Certainly appropriate for the holiday season! Be
prepared to go back in time to a kingdom far far away.
Nocturna,
Livid Looking Glass
This music is wonderful... All the enchantment and beauty
of traditional classical Christmas music from the dark side.
Very evocative of holiness as well as spine chillingly mysterious.
Morbid
Outlook
I decided to first listen to this CD on a cross-country train
ride, I thought it would be fitting. It was gently raining in
the Pacific Northwest and as prehistoric landscapes rolled by,
I felt I too was like a knight on a quest of lonely tranquility.
My favorite track is "Ebonshire."
This minstrel piece is a perfect accompaniment of medieval mystique
for a journey into the unknown. I love the sound of the harpsichord
and Nox Arcana did not skimp on the medieval instruments or the
length, with over 60 minutes of music, like their past CD's are
chock full of different emotions and sounds threaded together
with a Gothic motif.
I love how this album especially,
matches Vargo's famous blue hued illustrations. If the music
on Winters Knight had visual color, it would definitely be the
frost blue of an enigmatic winter in Eastern Europe.
The serene silence of winter is
continued in "Crystal Forest." This track sounded like crystal and images of falling snow suspended in time.
I pictured an outdoor mysterious masquerade during "First
Snow," and I could just see the night sky lit up by the
"blue hued" snow. The chain of thoughts then led me
to think I was inside a glass ball with a contrived scene inside
that you shake and the snow flutters around. The
Knight motif is incorporated into all of the pieces, he is eerie
but not evil, and he protects the solace and beauty of this delicate
and fragile season. As I visited the frozen tundra engulfed in
fog on a mountain a mile high in Washington, this soundtrack
I heard on my train ride over raced though my mind. I was hoping
to encounter the Knight with raven wings to share his wisdom
of salvation.
I am somewhat biased towards "December
Winds," having been born in December I was bummed out growing
up having a winter birthday. But this melody made me proud because
there was a noble gallantry about it. As a child, I was always
mesmerized with suits of armor, from the Jun Hoard in The
Beastmaster to the walking armor at the finale of Bedknobs
and Broomsticks. I was delighted with the sophisticated elegance
of this enchanted realm. I have usually in the past looked forward
to summer, but now I look forward to winter.
The album then takes a turn to
celebrating the holiday season. Guest vocalist Jeff Endemann
brings a foreboding comfort to the lullaby "Coventry Carol."
Nox Arcana's rendition of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
has been the most interesting I have ever heard to date. And
as with all of Nox Arcana dreamscape albums, they take you on
a journey and end full circle leaving you to want more. "Redemption"
and "Carol of the Bells" are the perfect finale. Ministry
made many of us wish "Everyday is Halloween" but I
personally wish after hearing Winter's Knight that everyday
is Christmas... or whatever winter holiday you observe. I am
eagerly looking forward to their next CD, Carnival of Lost
Souls.
Nox Arcana describes Winter's
Knight as a path to reflect and explore introspection. And
it does just that. With our present culture so infiltrated with
noise and distractions, it was wonderful to have this meditative
music to ponder the solemn beauty of isolation.
Alexandra Nakelski, Fangoria
If you are one who finds Christmas music irritating by about
the second weekend in December this might be the perfect antidote.
It certainly works for me with its creepy symphonic ghostly tale
set in the middle of winter. I have previously reviewed this
band's material in the form of Necronomicon and I will be reviewing
the rest of the back catalogue in the coming weeks.
Nox Arcana produce music that sounds
like it should be off a soundtrack of some sort or other. This
is not surprising as Joseph Vargo has done a whole myriad of
sountracks of both TV and movies. It is not all instrumental,
as they toss in 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' for good measure.
This is perfect soundtrack when you are all tired out by the
Christmas hype and the annoyances of the season. Gothic symphonic
goodness...what is there not to like?
Marty
Dodge, BlogCritics
As the wind and bone wrenching cold envelops you this Christmas
season, my suggestion is to let the latest brilliant dirge by
Nox Arcana increase the effect with their Christmas effort, Winter's
Knight. The duo of Joseph Vargo and William Piotroswki subdues
the cold outside and replaces it with a deeper one from inside,
but somehow interweave warmth into the otherwise bleak dirges
they produce, a subtlety that is not missed on this reviewer.
Legends
Magazine
Many artists claim that their music is haunting, but no
one delivers the goods like Nox Arcana. Everything about this
enchanting concept album is a true work of genius.
Amazon
Reviews
With Winter's Knight, Nox Arcana went into more
of a gothic or ghostly sound for the winter holidays. They have
done another excellent job of giving us fans some great background
music to set the mood.
Kitley's
Krypt
If you like your holidays with a little imagination and
mystery, this is the album for you.
Amy
H. Sturgis, popthought.com
No, this is not Tim
Burton's ghoulish tale about the Pumpkin King; this is royalty
of an entirely different sort. Nox Arcana is Joseph Vargo and
William Piotrowski, musical masters of darkness. Their intensely
creative Winter's Knight takes listeners on a gothic fantasy
to the blackest parts of midnight. Although most pieces are instrumental,
there are several sinister vocals to chill the soul.
This ample album (over an hour
of music!) travels through 21 holiday numbers that are unlike
anything you have ever heard. The orchestration is elegantly
creepy and musically astute; these gentlemen know their stuff.
Most pieces are inspired originals, but more intriguing are the
ghostly and ghastly renditions of well-loved carols. Although
these holiday chestnuts once were harbingers of hope and grace,
Nox Arcana reworks them to cast the eeriest glow across the haunted
landscape, all the while retaining the coolest sort of inner
beauty.
Most definitely, Winter's Knight is not for everybody. Nox Arcana throws dark shadows across the
brightest time of year, and unless you have a solid sense of
humor or, at the very least, an open mind and/or a fondness for
all things goth, this album will puzzle and perhaps even offend.
On the other hand, if you have heard five billion renditions
of "Deck the Halls" in your neighborhood mall, and
you long for something a bit more daring, Nox Arcana's Winter's
Knight may well be your cup of tea, so to speak.
As for me, great music attracts
me, and I have considerable admiration for talented musicians
who are willing to walk a different path. Winter's Knight will take you down that bizarrely distinct trail for the holidays,
but Nox Arcana will make the journey well worth your while.
Carol
Swanson, ChristmasReviews.com