''Carnival of Lost Souls'' is the fifth album by Dark ambient musical duo

Nox Arcana Nox Arcana is the American neoclassical dark wave, dark ambient musical project of Joseph Vargo. It was founded in 2003 as a duo with William Piotrowski, who left in 2008 to pursue a career in film score composing but still acts as its studio eng ...

, loosely based on the novel '' Something Wicked This Way Comes'' by

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...

. On this album,

performs a style of music that is indicative of a late 19th-early 20th century

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

act, albeit with a darker, more sinister tone and effect. In 2017, ''Carnival Of Lost Souls'' was ranked by Pretty Famous on MSN at #101 for ''Best Album of All Time''. Nox Arcana made the list with other influential musical artists including

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

, and

The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

Music

Their "Calliope" song, for example, is a pipe organ melody that is performed more like a

dirge A dirge ( la, dirige, naenia) is a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral. Often taking the form of a brief hymn, dirges are typically shorter and less meditative than elegies ...

than something festive, and the song "Madame Endora" is a narrative piece featuring the gravely voice of a

fortune-teller Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical w ...

who warns the listener that "a storm is coming" and to "beware." Other tracks are accented with sound effects of things that one might hear in the encampment of a traveling circus: the tormented, bitter screams of the

freak A freak is a person who is physically deformed or transformed due to an extraordinary medical condition or body modification. This definition was first attested with this meaning in the 1880s as a shorter form of the phrase " freak of nature ...

s in the sideshow, the sound of the ringmaster or carnival

barker Barker may refer to: Occupations * Barker (occupation), a person who attempts to attract patrons to entertainment events * Barker (coachbuilder), a builder of horse-drawn coaches and later of bodywork for prestige cars * a person who strips tanbar ...

, the cracking of a

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

, the distant roaring of animals and rattling of chains. The track "

Snake Charmer Snake charming is the practice of appearing to hypnotize a snake (often a cobra) by playing and waving around an instrument called a pungi. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly dangerou ...

" combines an exotic drumbeat with wind pipes and

finger cymbals Zills or zils (from Turkish 'cymbals'), also called finger cymbals, are small metallic cymbals used in belly dancing and similar performances. They are called () in Egypt. They are similar to Tibetan tingsha bells. In Western music, several pai ...

, along with the sound of a

rattlesnake Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small anim ...

. The song "Spellbound" is the only song on the album with full lyrics and male vocals. It was recorded twice on the CD; once as a scratchy-crackly-sounding record, like something played on an old

Victrola The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidia ...

machine, then as a

goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

version on a

hidden track In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as t ...

at the end of the CD. Nox Arcana hosted a CD release party that coincided with the album release date of 6-6-06 and played up the

superstitions A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and ...

surrounding that date with a horror-carnival atmosphere. The rock version of "Spellbound" was performed live. ''Carnival of Lost Souls'' is one of three albums Nox Arcana recorded during a one-year span. Prior to this they released two full-length albums each year. Music from ''Carnival of Lost Souls'' is regularly featured at the

Knott's Scary Farm Knott's Scary Farm or Knott's Halloween Haunt is a seasonal Halloween event at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. It is an event in which the theme park is transformed into "160 acres of horror", via a series of roaming monsters, terri ...

haunted attraction, "Carnevil".

Track listing

#"Ghosts of the Midway" – 1:48 #"After Hours" – 2:16 #"Harlequin’s Lament" – 3:39 #"Calliope" – 2:46 #"Madame Endora" – 1:03 #"Nightmare Parade" – 2:38 #"Shadows Fall" – 2:18 #"Hall of Mirrors" – 1:32 #"Spellbound" – 1:04 #"Cries in the Night" – 1:21 #"Soul Stealer" – 2:28 #"Haunted Carousel" – 3:12 #"Theatre of Sorrows" – 2:35 #"Living Dolls" – 2:52 #"Lost in the Darkness" – 4:15 #"Snake Charmer" – 4:26 #"Freaks" – 1:24 #"Circus Diabolique" – 3:24 #"Pandora’s Music Box" – 3:08 #"The Devil’s Daggers" – 3:17 #"Storm" – 11:36 * The song "Storm" ends at 2:40, but there are three untitled hidden tracks: the first hidden track starts at 3:20 and ends at 4:25; the second hidden track starts at 4:55 and ends at 5:50; the third hidden track starts at 6:05 and ends at 11:36. This third

is a heavy metal version of the song "Spellbound". Lyrics and music by Joseph Vargo, vocals performed by Jim Hamar, lead guitar performed by Jeff Endemann. In the song, Vargo recites the phrase " By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes..."

References

External links

Nox Arcana official website

* ''Carnival Of Lost Souls''at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{Authority control 2006 albums Nox Arcana albums Music based on novels Adaptations of works by Ray Bradbury Carnival music Halloween albums