Winter's Knight
| Winter's Knight | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 10, 2005 | |||
| Genre | Christmas music, Neoclassical dark wave, New-age, Dark ambient, Celtic new-age, Gothic | |||
| Label | Monolith Graphics | |||
| Nox Arcana chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Christmas Reviews |  [1] |
| Morbid Outlook | [2] |
| Fangoria Magazine | [3] |
Winter's Knight is the third album by gothic duo Nox Arcana. The album peaked at #8 on Billboard Magazine's Music Charts for Top Holiday Albums of 2006 and 2007.[4]
The soundtrack is predominantly instrumental with a few traditional holiday songs performed with a darker medieval flair. 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.
Nox Arcana, already popular in the gothic music 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[edit]
- "Vigil" — 1:41
- "Ghosts of Christmas Past" — 3:40
- "Ebonshire" — 2:53
- "Solitude" — 2:51
- "Crystal Forest" — 3:17
- "First Snow" — 4:36
- "Evening Star" — 3:21
- "Reflections of Long Ago" — 2:25
- "December Winds" — 2:49
- "Phantom Toccata" — 1:12
- "Hallowed Ruins" — 2:28
- "Gregorian Hymn" — 1:16
- "Spirit of the Season" — 3:13
- "Coventry Carol" — 3:23[6]
- "Lullaby" — 2:06
- "Winter's Knight" — 3:53
- "Past Time With Good Company" — 3:33[6]
- "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" — 3:02[6]
- "Veni, Veni, Emmanuel" — 3:01[6]
- "Redemption" — 3:44
- "Carol of the Bells" — 5:21[6]
- The song "Carol of the Bells" ends at 3:25. An untitled hidden track begins at 4:15.
References[edit]
- ^ Christmas Reviews
- ^ Morbid Outlook review
- ^ Fangoria Magazine
- ^ "Billboard Music Charts". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
- ^ "Interview with Joseph Vargo". Halloween Database. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
- ^ a b c d e New recordings of 5 traditional carols as indicated in cd liner notes.
External links[edit]
- Nox Arcana official website
- The Tale of Winter's Knight
- Billboard Discography
- Winter's Knight at Allmusic
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