You should know by now that I am well impressed with Nox Arcana’s piece of music titled Night of the Wolf that is heard playing while a vampire exorcism takes place within a Russian film called Evil.  If you haven’t seen this beautiful clip with the haunting melodies of Nox Arcana, click here now to see it.

When preparing the piece below about the release of Nox Arcana’s latest CD, The Dark Tower, I decided to find out more about the man behind Nox Arcana and I’m in awe.

Joseph Vargo is an amazing artist, full of creativity with a passion for revealing his vision of Gothic realms that are dark and enticing.  He’s almost like my soul mate, because after reading his biography, I feel like we have so much in common.  If you click on his image, you will be able to read his biography in full.

Joseph, is a writer, composer and an artist from Cleveland, Ohio. Together with William Piotrowski, he formed Nox Arcana and seriously, if you like dark and haunting melodies that  are filled with passion, click on the links below to sample their music.

Within Vargo’s biography, it states that he tended to gravitate towards horror movies, monster models and anything that could warp his young and impressionable mind.   His artwork, which can be seen by clicking this link here, is full of his passion for the creatures of the night, gaunt vampires, beautiful women in dark, fantasy realms and his love of fairy tales.  There’s one image that captivates me and it can be found in his Vampires category and it’s the final image.  It shows soldiers impaled in a dark and cold realm with the vultures circling above and an evil looking tower standing strong in the background.  I look at this and immediately think of Vlad Dracula or you might know him by his common name of Vlad the Impaler.

I can see Vargo’s vision clearly.  He is so passionate that in order to bring his world to life, not only does his skilfully recreate these Gothic paintings, he creates the music and the stories to bring them to life.  I’ve only just found this out myself and I’m certainly hooked. As soon as payday comes, I’m certainly investing in one of his books.

Anyway, in time for Halloween, Nox Arcana have released a new CD titled The Dark Tower.

Born of the Night, they lurk in the shadows–gargoyles of living stone, lost souls who wander mist-shrouded cemeteries, and vampires who dwell deep within forbidden crypts. They are the spirits that haunt the blackest wells of midnight–trapped between the realms of the living and the dead, forsaken and cursed to forever dwell beneath the shadow of The Dark Tower.

Nox Arcana invites you to explore a realm of gothic mystery, horror and romance with this dark symphony of the night.   Eerie piano and pipe organ melodies echo through haunted halls, ghostly choirs chant to the rhythm of tolling bells, epic orchestrations stir powerful emotions, while the cries of wolves, ravens and restless spirits echo in the dead of night.
The Dark Tower marks Nox Arcana’s 16th concept album, each of which offers a unique and different Gothic theme. Joseph Vargo brings his dark visions to life with his masterful blend of haunting melodies, ominous orchestrations and chilling sound effects, creating a brooding soundtrack of mystery and menace for his Dark Tower book series. (21 tracks. 66 mins.)

Listen to music samples and pre-order CDs
http://www.noxarcana.com/darktower.html
http://www.monolithgraphics.com/music.html
CDs are scheduled to ship Sept 26th.
For those of you who prefer downloads, we will be sending the files to Amazon, RPGnow, CDbaby and iTunes after Sept 26. It may take those companies from one to three weeks to post the downloads online. *Please do not fileshare our music.

Book I: Tales From The Dark Tower will be in stock again by Sept 28th.
The sequel, Book II: Beyond The Dark Tower is slated for a fall release—most likely November.

The Gothic Tarot Droid App has been upgraded for the Tablet format, and offers full-screen images!
Get the app at: https://market.android.com/details?id=liberus.tarot.monolith.gothic
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Visit Monolith Graphics and Nox Arcana:
http://monolithgraphics.com
http://noxarcana.com

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