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{{Infobox artist
|Name = Nox Arcana|Image = |Img_capt = |Img_size = 250|Origin = Cleveland, Ohio, USA|Genre = [[Neoclassical dark wave]], [[Dark ambient]], [[New-age music|New age]]|Years_active = 2003–present|Label = [http://www.monolithgraphics.com Monolith Graphics]|Associated_acts = [[Michelle Belanger]], Buzz-Works|URL = [http://www.noxarcana.com www.NoxArcana.com]|Current_members = Joseph Vargo|Past_members = William Piotrowski}}
'''Nox Arcana''' is an American [[Neoclassical dark wave|neoclassical]], [[dark ambient]] musical duo, formed in 2003 by Joseph Vargo and William Piotrowski. Their name in Latin translates to "mysteries of the night." All of Nox Arcana's music is released [[independent music|independently]] on the Monolith Graphics label, a publishing company owned by Joseph Vargo.
Nox Arcana specializes in concept albums based on original stories, as well as gothic fiction and classic horror literature<ref name="flames">{{Citation|url = http://www.flamesrising.com/interview-with-joseph-vargo-artist-musician|title = Interview with Joseph Vargo, Artist & Musician |periodical = Flames Rising|date = 2006-09-18}}</ref> Some of their albums also make reference to medieval themes and ancient mythology.<ref>{{Citation|date=Winter 2007|title=Editorial|periodical=Echo Immortalis|pages=31–32|url=http://www.monolithgraphics.com/interviews/EchoImmortalis.pdf}}</ref> With their third album, Nox Arcana became a ''Billboard'' Top Ten charting artist in the holiday genre.<ref name="bb" />
In addition to the storytelling aspect of each album, hidden puzzles and interactive quests are incorporated into the album artwork and into the music itself. Their music is often used to provide atmosphere for films, public events, role-playing games and during Halloween at theme parks, several of which have based haunted attractions on Nox Arcana's original theme albums.<ref name="day">{{Citation | last=Koster | first=Rick | date=October 7, 2008 | title=Nox Arcana | newspaper=The Day | publication-place=New London, CT. | url=http://www.monolithgraphics.com/interviews/theday.html}}</ref>
==Musical characteristics==
Nox Arcana's music is melodic and moody, focusing on a dominant melody line. Instrumentation varies with each album as appropriate to the theme or time period of the album concept, and typically includes piano, bells, violin, pipe organ, harpsichord, timpani drums and other percussion. Some albums also include cymbals, lutes, acoustic guitars, bagpipes and glockenspiel, depending on the theme of a given album.
Their music is generally classified as [[dark wave]] or [[dark ambient]], "sometimes sandwiched into the [[Gothic rock|gothic music genre]]" <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bubblews.com/news/3321643-nox-arcana-quotthe-dark-towerquot-the-dark-queen039s-spirit-still-haunts-these-hallowed-halls|title=Nox Arcana "The Dark Tower" The Dark Queen's Spirit Still Haunts These Hallowed Halls}}</ref> and aptly labeled "atmospheric gothic."<ref>[http://www.spirit-of-metal.com/groupe-groupe-Nox_Arcana-l-en.html Spirt of Metal genre listing for Nox Arcana]</ref> The moods associated with Nox Arcana music describe it as ominous, romantic, lush, epic, otherworldly, menacing, spooky and eerie, Nox Arcana's music covers a broad range of subgenres within the [[Rock music|rock]] and [[Alternative rock|alternative]] music categories.<ref name="amg">[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/nox-arcana-mn0000773515 All Music Guide]</ref>
Joseph Vargo explained Nox Arcana's style to a blogger from Gnostics.com: "Our music is mainly classically based instrumental, although we do incorporate chanting choirs and spoken narratives for dramatic effect to achieve a blend of darkly haunting melodies that encompass the complete gothic spectrum the romantic, the mysterious, and the horrific. We utilize a variety of instruments such as piano, pipe organ, violin, acoustic guitar, drums and tolling bells to achieve symphonic orchestrations. Our concept has always been to create moody and melody-driven gothic soundscapes that take the listener on a musical journey through various dark realms of fantasy." <ref>{{cite web|title=Interview with Joseph Vargo - Nox Arcana|publisher=Gnostics.com|url=http://www.gnostics.com/noxarcana.html|date=2007}}</ref>
''[[Carnival of Lost Souls]]'' though primarily a [[dark cabaret]]-style album, also contains a [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] song, while the music on the ''[[Blood of Angels]]'' album blends [[industrial dance]] and tribal rhythms with ethereal-style vocals. Their trilogy of winter-themed albums feature a range of ethereal-style choirs, Gregorian-style chanting, [[classical music]], and [[Celtic fusion#Celtic New Age|Celtic new-age]] instrumentation.<ref name="muchar" />
===Musical storytelling===
Vocals and narratives are also used sparingly to help relate a story or serve as introduction to a musical piece, for example, the voice of "Jonathan Harker" and whispered female voices of "Dracula's brides" that beckon to the listener, a carnival barker with the indistinct sounds of an audience in the distance, or "Edgar Allan Poe" and a voice calling out from the grave after being prematurely buried, the gravelly voice of a "witch" casting a spell, and a variety of low Gregorian-style chanting and choirs.<ref>{{cite web|last=Valentinelli | first=Monica|title = Review of ''Shadow of the Raven''|work=Flames Rising|date=2009-04-24|url=http://www.flamesrising.com/shadow-of-the-raven-review}}</ref>
Enforcing the theme and the narrative are the use of sound effects, such as, for instance, a door creaking or a pendulum swinging on the Poe-inspired ''[[Shadow of the Raven]]''.<ref name="muchar">Reviewers describe musical characteristics: [http://noxarcana.com/darklore.html#reviews National Gamers Guild for ''Darklore Manor''], [http://www.templeofdagon.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=244 Temple of Dagon for ''Necronomicon''], [http://noxarcana.com/wintersknight.html#reviews Christmas Reviews for ''Winter's Knight''], [http://www.chaindlk.com/reviews/index.php?rl=1&id=2490 Chain DLK for ''Transylvania''], [http://web.archive.org/web/20091027141701/http://www.geocities.com/draconisblkthn/NoxArcana.html Draconis Blackthorn for ''Carnival of Lost Souls''], [http://www.side-line.com/reviews_comments.php?id=22118_0_17_0_C Side-line for ''Blood of Angels''], [http://web.archive.org/web/20080331125613/http://paizo.com/store/gameAids/audioCDs/noxArcana/v5748btpy7tp2 Paizo Publishing for ''Blood of the Dragon''], [http://www.flamesrising.com/shadow-of-the-raven-review Flames Rising for ''Shadow of the Raven''], and [http://web.archive.org/web/20100114030503/http://fangoria.com/musick/reviews/302-review-nox-arcana-phantoms-of-the-high-seas.html Fangoria Musick for ''Phantoms of the High Seas''].</ref>
Beginning with the ''[[Blood of the Dragon]]'' CD in 2006, Vargo began a tradition of incorporating a quest or adventure within the album artwork and sometimes leaving clues in his narratives. He later went back and did the same for some of the earlier CDs. Now more than half of Nox Arcana's CDs contain some sort of hidden puzzle, which is left to the listener to discover.<ref>{{Citation|last=Aponte|first=Paul|title=Interview with Joseph Vargo|periodical=Ideology of Madness|date=May 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://noxarcana.com/crown.html|title=Treasure of the Four Crowns}}</ref>
==Influences==
Nox Arcana is influenced by [[New Age music|new age]], [[Classical music|classical]], [[ambient music]], [[rock music]], and [[Soundtrack album|film soundtracks]], citing other composers such as [[John Carpenter]], [[Danny Elfman]], [[AC/DC]], [[Wojciech Kilar]], [[Enya]], [[Loreena McKennitt]], [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]], [[Jerry Goldsmith]], and [[Hans Zimmer]].<ref name="flames" /><ref name="day" /><ref>{{Citation|last=Haney|first = Josh|title = Interview with Nox Arcana|periodical=Wicked Karnival Magazine|date=October 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Ioannou|first=Rania| url=http://web.archive.org/web/20121105164025/http://www.metafysiko.org/index.php?module=writeit&action=read&id=40 |title = Interview with Joseph Vargo| periodical=Metafysiko: Fantasy Gate|location=Greece|date= April 2008}}</ref> Their literary references include H. P. Lovecraft, Bram Stoker, The Brothers Grimm, Ray Bradbury, and Edgar Allan Poe.<ref name="flames" />
==Discography==
Nox Arcana released twenty albums between 2003 and 2013, an average of two each year, and have never recorded the same song twice. Their ''[[Winter's Knight]]'' album, released in 2005, peaked at #8 on the ''Billboard'' chart for Top Holiday Album in 2006 and 2007.<ref name="bb">{{cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/2007-01-27/holiday-albums|title=Billboard Music Charts|publisher=Billboard Magazine}}</ref> Three albums, ''[[Blood of Angels]]'', ''[[Zombie Influx]]'', and ''[[House of Nightmares]]'' were recorded as side-projects with other artists or vocalists. Joseph Vargo wrote and recorded solo for seven of the albums, ''[[Blackthorn Asylum]]'', ''[[Winter's Eve]]'', ''[[Theater of Illusion]]'', ''[[The Dark Tower (Nox Arcana album)|The Dark Tower]]'', ''[[Winter's Majesty]]'', ''[[Legion of Shadows]]'', and ''[[Ebonshire]]''. William Piotrowski released a solo film soundtrack, ''[[Crimson Winter: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack|Crimson Winter]]''.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2" | Year
! rowspan="2" | Album details
!|[[Billboard 200|Billboard peak]]
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:40px;" | <small>US</small>
|-
|2003
| align="left" |''[[Darklore Manor]]''
*Released: December 15, 2003
*Label: [[Monolith]]
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
|2004
| align="left" |''[[Necronomicon (Nox Arcana album)|Necronomicon]]''
*Released: October 10, 2004
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
| rowspan="2" |2005
| align="left" |''[[Winter's Knight]]''
*Released: July 10, 2005
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |8
|-
| align="left" |''[[Transylvania (Nox Arcana album)|Transylvania]]''
*Released: October 21, 2005
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
| rowspan="3" |2006
| align="left" |''[[Carnival of Lost Souls]]''
*Released: June 6, 2006
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
| align="left" |''[[Blood of Angels]]'' <small>(with [[Michelle Belanger]])</small>
*Released: October 13, 2006
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
| align="left" |''[[Blood of the Dragon]]''
*Released: November 27, 2006
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
|2007
| align="left" |''[[Shadow of the Raven]]''
*Released: July 20, 2007
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
| rowspan="2" |2008
| align="left" |''[[Grimm Tales]]''
*Released: April 30, 2008
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
| align="left" |''[[Phantoms of the High Seas]]''
*Released: October 13, 2008
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
| rowspan="3" |2009
| align="left" |''[[Blackthorn Asylum]]''
*Released: June 21, 2009
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
| align="left" |''[[Zombie Influx]]'' <small>(with Jeff Hartz of Buzz-Works)</small>
*Released: September 15, 2009
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
| align="left" |''[[Winter's Eve]]''
*Released: November 27, 2009
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
| rowspan="2" |2010
| align="left" |''[[Theater of Illusion]]''
*Released: July 15, 2010
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
| align="left" |''[[House of Nightmares]]'' <small>(with Jeff Hartz of Buzz-Works)</small>
*Released: October 1, 2010
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
|2011
| align="left" |''[[The Dark Tower (Nox Arcana album)|The Dark Tower]]''
*Released: September 30, 2011
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
|2012
| align="left" |''[[Winter's Majesty]]''
*Released: December 12, 2012
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
| rowspan="3" |2013
| align="left" |''[[Legion of Shadows]]''
*Released: October 31, 2013
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
| align="left" |''[[Crimson Winter: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]]''
*Released: October 31, 2013
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
| align="left" |''[[Ebonshire]]''
*Released: December 7, 2013
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
|2014
| align="left" |''[[Ebonshire - Volume 2]]''
*Released: December 1, 2014
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
|2015
| align="left" |''[[Gothic (Nox Arcana album)|Gothic]]''
*Released: October 9, 2015
*Label: Monolith
| style="text-align:center;" |
|-
|}
==Stage and screen==
Nox Arcana support a wide variety of independent productions like radio dramas and student films to which they lend their music. A number of professional performances of gothic plays, such as ''Frankenstein'', ''The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'', ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'', ''Dracula'' and ''Richard III'' have featured music by Nox Arcana.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.noxarcana.com/credits.html |title=Nox Arcana performance credits |publisher=Noxarcana.com |date=2007-06-09}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fourstateshomepage.com/story/d/story/midwest-regional-ballet-april-6-2015/31388/dd8AkheBAU-8hqhk5wCsDg |title=Dracula performed by the Midwest Regional Ballet featuring Nox Arcana music.|publisher=fourstateshomepage.com}}</ref>
In 2013, a young Corsican filmmaker Ariakina Ettori won first place in the L'Institut Régional du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel (IRCA) with her modern version of "Little Red Riding Hood" inspired by Nox Arcana's song "Night of the Wolf." The film school credits Joseph Vargo and Nox Arcana for their unconditional support.<ref>{{Citation | title = Ariakina Ettori lauréate du Défi Jeunes 2013 |author = Charles Monti | url = http://translate.google.com/translate?&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http://www.corsenetinfos.fr/Ariakina-Ettori-laureate-du-Defi-Jeunes-2013_a4162.html |date = 2013-07-13}}</ref>
William Piotrowski wrote the score for a local production entitled ''Ghosts of Ohio'', a video documentary about Mary Ann Winkowski, a real-life medium who inspired the CBS television show ''Ghost Whisperer''.<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8423881/ MSNBC article on Ghost Whisperer] and [http://www.clevelandwomen.com/people/maryann.htm Local story on Mary Ann Winkowski]</ref> In 2013, William wrote and performed the motion picture soundtrack for the vampire film ''Crimson Winter.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crimson-winter.com |title=Crimson Winter movie website |publisher=Crimson-winter.com |date=}}</ref>
Nox Arcana's music is used by theme parks such as Busch Gardens, Six Flags, Knott's Scary Farm and Universal Studios during Halloween for scenes and haunted houses based upon their album themes.<ref name="day" /><ref>{{Citation | last=Teresenza | first=Serena | url=http://www.monolithgraphics.com/interviews/gateways.html | title=Interview with Joseph Vargo | periodical=Gothic Gateways | date=October 2008}}</ref> Nox Arcana's music is featured exclusively on the TV show ''America Haunts'' for the Travel Channel, which has aired throughout the Halloween weekend each year since 2009.<ref name="NoxArcanaNews">{{cite web| title = Nox Arcana news| url = http://www.noxarcana.com/news.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = TV Guide Listing: "America Haunts"|url = http://www.tvguide.com/search/index.aspx?keyword=America%20haunts}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = America Haunts production credits, episodes II, III, IV | url = http://www.facebook.com/pages/America-Haunts/151707981701?v=app_2347471856}}</ref> Music from Nox Arcana's ''Transylvania'' album was featured on the FOX TV show So You Think You Can Dance.<ref>{{Citation | title = So You Think You Can Dance. |author = Cole Horibe performs his solo routine to the song "Night of The Wolf" by Nox Arcana. | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHpMbbfNlrY |date = 2012-09-05}}</ref>
===Work with other music acts===
Nox Arcana's sound has been used by other performing artists to introduce their albums or live shows. Joseph Vargo recorded the vocal Intro for the 2008 album ''Witchtanic Hellucinations'' by [[Acid Witch]].<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/witchtanic-hellucinations-mw0001310087/credits Witchtanic Hellucinations]</ref> He also provided the intro music and vocals for [[Legion of the Damned]] albums ''Cult of the Dead'' (2008) and ''Decent Into Chaos'' (2011). [[Legion of the Damned|LOTD]] also opened their 2010 "Slaughtering" tour with Nox Arcana's song "Circus Diabolique" from their album ''[[Carnival of Lost Souls]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Interview with Legion of the Damned|url=http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/en/interviews/view/id/4924|website=Lords of Metal}}</ref><ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/descent-into-chaos-mw0002095027 LOTD at All Music]</ref> In 2013, [[Blood on the Dance Floor (duo)|Blood on the Dance Floor]] opened their ''Bad Blood'' tour with "Essence of Evil" from Nox Arcana's ''[[Blackthorn Asylum]]'' album.<ref>{{cite web|title=Blood On The Dance Floor Facebook post announcing Nox Arcana|url=https://www.facebook.com/bloodonthedancefloor/posts/609201345784848|date=October 1, 2013}}</ref>
==Monolith Graphics==
Monolith Graphics publishes and distributes Nox Arcana music worldwide. The publishing company is owned by Joseph Vargo, who became world-renowned<ref>{{cite journal| last=Bennett| first=Tim| date=October 30, 2005| title=Gothic Empire: Ten Minutes with Joseph Vargo| newspaper=The Plain Dealer| page=L3| location=Cleveland, OH|url=http://www.monolithgraphics.com/interviews/pd_gothic_empire.html}}</ref> as a gothic-fantasy artist in the early 1990s with work ranging from album covers and books to posters and other products.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.josephvargo.com|title=Joseph Vargo's artist portfolio | publisher=Josephvargo.com}}</ref> Before forming Nox Arcana in 2003, Joseph Vargo produced two albums for [[Midnight Syndicate]]<ref name="legends">{{Citation |last = Pan|first = Marcus|url=http://www.monolithgraphics.com/interviews/Legends156a.pdf|title = Interview with Nox Arcana|periodical=Legends Magazine|date=February 2006|issue=156 }}</ref><ref name="gamerep">{{cite web| title=Interview with Joseph Vargo|url=http://www.monolithgraphics.com/interviews/GamingReport.pdf| work=Gaming Report| date=2004-12-23 }}</ref> but left the band in 2000 to co-write ''Tales from the Dark Tower'',<ref name="tales">{{cite book| title=Tales From The Dark Tower| last=Vargo| first=Joseph| year=2000| publisher=Monolith Graphics| isbn=9780967575605 | page=280| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=A1SzEW2kiRcC}}</ref> a book that follows the exploits of a vampire during the First Crusade. Over the next 8 years, he published ''Dark Realms'' magazine, released a best-selling card deck, ''The Gothic Tarot'',<ref>''Previews'' starred item, September 2005. The Gothic Tarot ranks #7 of 10 (above Star Wars and Batman card games)</ref> and wrote a book based on his original story for Nox Arcana's debut album, ''[[Darklore Manor]]''.<ref name="dmanor">{{cite book| title=The Legend of Darklore Manor and Other Tales of Terror| last=Vargo| first=Joseph| year=2008| publisher=Monolith Graphics| isbn=9780978885762 | page=216| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Ntxpl2IzQgYC}}</ref> In 2011, Vargo released, ''Beyond the Dark Tower'',<ref name="dktwr">{{cite book| title=Beyond The Dark Tower| last=Vargo| first=Joseph| year=2011| publisher=Monolith Graphics| isbn=9780982489925| page=234| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=hrbhozAVYxYC}}</ref> a sequel to ''Tales from the Dark Tower'' along with ''[[The Dark Tower (Nox Arcana album)|The Dark Tower]]'' album based on his book series.
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==External links==
*[http://www.noxarcana.com Official website]
*[https://www.facebook.com/NoxArcana Facebook]
*[http://www.youtube.com/NoxArcana Youtube]
*[http://myspace.com/noxarcana MySpace]
===Interviews===
*[http://www.monolithgraphics.com/interviews.html Archived interviews with Nox Arcana]
*[http://www.halloweendatabase.com/index.php?v_action=noxarcana Halloween Database, August 2007]
*[http://www.gnostics.com/noxarcana.html Parallel Perspectives, May 2007]
*[http://musicstreetjournal.com/interviews_display.cfm?id=100086 Music Street Journal, September 2006]
[[Category:American dark wave musical groups]]
[[Category:American gothic rock groups]]
[[Category:American rock music groups]]
[[Category:Dark ambient music groups]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 2003]]
[[Category:Neoclassical dark wave musical groups]]