Winter's Knight

Winter's Knight
Studio album by Nox Arcana
Released July 10, 2005
Genre Dark Ambient
Label Monolith Graphics
Nox Arcana chronology
Necronomicon
(2004)		 Winter's Knight
(2005)		 Transylvania
(2005)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Christmas Reviews [1]
Morbid Outlook [2]
Fangoria Magazine [3]

Winter's Knight is the third album by gothic horror duo Nox Arcana, that released over Monolith Graphics on July 10, 2005. The music is predominantly instrumental with a darker medieval flair, and is one of the Top 10 Gothic Christmas or Solstice albums.[4]

Contents

Musical style

The music is accented with Gregorian chanting, pipe organs, violins, and acoustic guitar. Some of the tracks contain vocals, such as the minstrel's rendition of "Past Time With Good Company". Other songs feature narration describing a tale of a ghostly knight who wanders the ruins of a haunted cathedral at wintertime. The story is set in the mythical Ebonshire forest. The booklet is decorated to look like an Illuminated manuscript and features the artwork of Joseph Vargo.

Winter's Knight hit #8 on the Billboard Music Chart for Top Holiday Albums of 2006.[4]

Nox Arcana, already popular in the gothic genre, wanted to carry the gothic mood into the Christmas season, along the lines of Dickens' classic ghost story, A Christmas Carol.[5]

Track listing

  1. "Vigil" — 1:41
  2. "Ghosts of Christmas Past" — 3:40
  3. "Ebonshire" — 2:53
  4. "Solitude" — 2:51
  5. "Crystal Forest" — 3:17
  6. "First Snow" — 4:36
  7. "Evening Star" — 3:21
  8. "Reflections of Long Ago" — 2:25
  9. "December Winds" — 2:49
  10. "Phantom Toccata" — 1:12
  11. "Hallowed Ruins" — 2:28
  12. "Gregorian Hymn" — 1:16
  13. "Spirit of the Season" — 3:13
  14. "Coventry Carol" — 3:23[6]
  15. "Lullaby" — 2:06
  16. "Winter's Knight" — 3:53
  17. "Past Time With Good Company" — 3:33[6]
  18. "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" — 3:02[6]
  19. "Veni, Veni, Emmanuel" — 3:01[6]
  20. "Redemption" — 3:44
  21. "Carol of the Bells" — 3:15[6]

References

  1. ^ Christmas Reviews
  2. ^ Morbid Outlook review
  3. ^ Fangoria Magazine
  4. ^ a b "Billboard Music Charts". Billboard Magazine. http://www.billboard.com/search/?keyword=nox+arcana&x=0&y=0#/charts/holiday-albums?chartDate=2007-01-27. Retrieved 2007-01-27. 
  5. ^ "Interview with Joseph Vargo". Halloween Database. http://www.halloweendatabase.com/index.php?v_action=noxarcana. Retrieved 2009-08-25. 
  6. ^ a b c d e New recordings of 5 traditional carols as indicated in cd liner notes.

External links