Carnival Of Lost Souls
''Carnival of Lost Souls'' is The Greatest Show on Earth. An absolutely enchanting opus; besides the brilliant orchestrations, this album manages to conjure the underlying sensation of a Magical world you will never want to leave. I am fondly reminded of the Ray Bradbury classic ''Something Wicked This Way Comes.'' FangoriaWe begin or journey with the opening track ''Ghosts Of The Midway,'' which ushers us into the scariest carnival this side of the afterlife, the Circus Diabolique. All of the attractions are here, the ''Haunted Carousel,'' ''Hall Of Mirrors,'' ''Freaks,'' and even ''Madame Endora'' the fortune-teller. The album deftly leads us through each part of the midway, offering glimpses of what lies in store for you. All of the songs are masterful arrangements that drag you deeper into the mythology Nox Arcana has created. This is a fantastic album. I highly recommend all of Nox Arcana's aural horrors.Hacker's SourceNox Arcana with their cd Carnival of Lost Souls evokes the carnival as a place of wickedness and danger. Released appropriately on 6-6-6, the album is mostly instrumental music of the horror goth variety with sound effects and a chorus of voices to create a haunting, ghostly journey perfect for haunted houses or Halloween parties.  The album opens with a collage of sounds on ''Ghosts of the Midway,'' with the crowds shuffling, the calliope in the distance, and underneath it all, a deep drone like something dark pervading the fun-seeking crowds. The ringmaster begins shouting a welcome but gives warning as well of dark wonders that may threaten. In ''After Hours,'' the crowds have gone home and the listener is left alone to see what goes on in the carnival after dark. Spectral laughter cackles from here and there, and a creepy voice implores the listener to ''follow me.'' Then on ''Harlequin's Lament'' a sad piano refrain is joined by the ''Gregorian Shadow Choir'' that sings on many of the album's tunes. This is the central style of Nox Arcana's music: a mournful piano and a funerary chorale. This gives the album a uniform quality ideal for background music, but each song also adds individual sound effects and other variations to keep things interesting. The piece ''Calliope'' of course features that instrument, a particularly wheezy version like the old steam-powered style. This calliope then comes and goes throughout the album like a theme revisited. The thundering tympani on ''Nightmare Parade'' also reappear in other pieces like ''Circus Diabolique'' and ''The Devil's Daggers'' to create a sound like apocalyptic horses charging, such as Basil Poledouris achieved in his Conan soundtrack. Quite different are the several pieces that use a delicate and slightly warped music box sound as on ''Living Dolls'' which gives a feeling more like Goblin's work on Suspiria. The piece ''Snake Charmer'' uses a melody and beat evocative of Middle Eastern music. And on several pieces, the chorus rises to epic heights giving a feeling like Carl Orff's O Fortuna.     A still more unique piece is ''Spellbound'' which begins with a sound as though it is being played through a crackling old Victrola. Mournful strings play and a voice begins to sing. The song is very brief, almost a fragment. But on the last track of the album, the song returns after a long pause as a hidden extra. In this version, the song is a full-blown goth rock number with Jim Hamar singing like a glam-era Bowie and guitarist Jeff Endemann providing solid metal riffs. On the last listed track, ''Storm,'' the ringmaster bids us farewell and the fortune teller lets us know that we only got away this time and that we are still doomed by fate. It's a classic Hollywood touch that serves well as the end of this cinematic night trip through this diabolical carnival.  Big OleFace Full of Monster