Blackthorn Asylum

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Blackthorn Asylum
Blackthorn Asylum.jpg
Studio album by
Nox Arcana
ReleasedJune 21, 2009
Genre Gothic, Dark ambient, Dark wave
Label Monolith Graphics
Nox Arcana chronology
Phantoms of the High Seas
(2008)		Blackthorn Asylum
(2009)		 Zombie Influx
(2009)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Fangoria Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [1]
Flames RisingStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [2]
Metal SoundStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]

Blackthorn Asylum is the eleventh album by dark ambient duo Nox Arcana. The musical theme is described as being "set in an abandoned sanitarium for the criminally insane where the doctors conducted horrible experiments on the inmates." [4] Instrumentation features classical piano and dark atmospheric tonal effects. [5]

Contents

This is also the last Nox Arcana album to be released with William Piotrowski as an official member; he left the same year for his career as a film score composer, with Vargo continuing the project as a solo act. Despite this, Piotrowski remains with the project as an additional instrumentalist and studio engineer, and remains credited on all future Nox Arcana albums in such roles.

Nox Arcana once again pays homage to H.P. Lovecraft as they did with their second album Necronomicon , stating "We set Blackthorn Asylum in the 1930s and revisit the dark domain of H.P. Lovecraft. The plot builds upon Lovecraft’s short story "From Beyond" and adds some creepy new twists." [6] And, as with almost every other album this band has released, this album conceals a puzzle, along with a storyline that expounds upon Lovecraft's story. [7]

"Alice!" a play based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol, performed by The Chaotic Theatre Company, Austin, TX, was set in Nox Arcana's Blackthorn Asylum. [8] [9] A theme park in Mexico created their "Demencia" Halloween attraction entirely based the Blackthorn Asylum album. [10]

Track listing

  1. "Legacy of Darkness" — 2:09
  2. "Blackthorn Asylum" — 3:12
  3. "Sanitarium Gates" — 3:06
  4. "Abandoned" — 2:54
  5. "Threshold of Madness" — 3:41
  6. "Tapestry of Decay" — 3:06
  7. "Hidden Horrors" — 2:32
  8. "When Darkness Falls" — 3:24
  9. "Shock Treatment" — :55
  10. "Fractured Memories" — 2:27
  11. "Phantasmagoria" — 3:27
  12. "Creeper" — 2:12
  13. "Sanity Slipping" — 3:03
  14. "Dementia 13" — 3:23
  15. "Solitary Confinement" — 3:24
  16. "Frenzy" — 2:45
  17. "The Condemned" — 3:04
  18. "Spiders in the Attic" — 4:24
  19. "From Beyond" — :47
  20. "Essence of Evil" — 2:55
  21. "Fade to Black" — 3:45 [11]

References

  1. ↑ "Fangoria Musick reviews". July 7, 2009. Archived from the original on January 14, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Flames Rising review". July 13, 2009.
  3. ↑ Marko Miranović (September 11, 2009). "Metal Sound review". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Lili's Lair interview with Joseph Vargo". July 29, 2009. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016.
  5. ↑ Review and synopsis of Blackthorn Asylum CD at the Wayback Machine (archived 2009-11-08)
  6. ↑ "Interview with Joseph Vargo". Turkey: Ideology of Madness. June 2, 2009. Archived from the original on June 15, 2009.
  7. ↑ Furkan Çolak. "Interview with Joseph Vargo". Turkey: Fantastik Edebiyat. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Alice!". Austin, TX: The Chaotic Theatre Company. 2009–2010. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Alice! Trailer". September 29, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Video of La Casa del Terror "Demencia" 2012". October 15, 2012.
  11. ↑ Music Brainz tracklist for Blackthorn Asylym
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