Blood of the Dragon is a musical album incorporating an interactive puzzle. The music is mainly instrumental, with a classical

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

, symphonic, and at times tribal Celtic

Celtic music

Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...

 sound. The music is interspersed with brief narrations and sound effects that relate a story.

The overall theme is laden with elements popularized in sword and sorcery

Sword and sorcery

Sword and sorcery is a sub-genre of fantasy and historical fantasy, generally characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural...

 stories and games, such as wizards, warriors

Warrior

A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...

, dragons, elves, witches, dwarves and trolls. These and other dark fantasy

Dark fantasy

Dark fantasy is a term used to describe a fantasy story with a pronounced horror element.-Overview:A strict definition for dark fantasy is difficult to pin down. Gertrude Barrows Bennett has been called "the woman who invented dark fantasy". Both Charles L...

 archetypes are represented visually in the artwork that accompanies the disc, and are also strongly suggested by the musical compositions.

The instrumentation includes heavy-sounding drum

Drum

The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...

s, gong

Gong

A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....

, bagpipe, harp

Harp

The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...

, acoustic guitar

Acoustic guitar

An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...

 and fiddle

Fiddle

The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...

, and features appropriate sound effects such as war horns, deeply reverberating chants, swords clashing, chainmail clanking and the war cries and stamping feet of what sound like thousands of men. The album begins and ends with some brief narration in the manner of furthering the story.

Nox Arcana

Nox Arcana

Nox Arcana is an American dark ambient musical group, formed in 2003 by Joseph Vargo and William Piotrowski. Nox Arcana specializes in concept albums based on gothic fiction and classic horror literature. Such literary references include: H. P. Lovecraft, The Brothers Grimm, Ray Bradbury, and Edgar...

 took their concepts of musical storytelling even further with Blood of the Dragon by incorporating an actual quest into their music and cd packaging. The booklet features artwork and puzzle designs by Joseph Vargo. The songs provide hints to set the listener/player upon their Quest.

The overall consensus from reviewers and fans of the Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

games is that Blood of the Dragon is "one of the best Dungeons & Dragons style soundtracks" and exceeds the listener's expectations. The music has been recommended as an alternative or complementary soundtrack for movies like Conan The Barbarian, The 13th Warrior

The 13th Warrior

The 13th Warrior is a 1999 historical fiction action film starring Antonio Banderas as Ahmad ibn Fadlan and Vladimir Kulich as Buliwyf; it is based on the novel Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton. It was directed by John McTiernan and an uncredited Crichton.The 13th Warrior is regarded as a...

and Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...

.

Track listing

Music composed and performed by Joseph Vargo and William Piotrowski.

1. "Ancient Legacy" — 1:34
2. "The Quest Begins — 3:29
3. "Citadel of Secrets" — 3:05
4. "Sorcerer" — 2:38
5. "Treasure of the Four Crowns" — 3:11
6. "Highland Storm" — 3:52
7. "Mist Loch" — 2:57
8. "Underworld" — 3:31
9. "The Mystic’s Keep" — 4:01
10. "Stygian Depths" — 1:15
11. "Legions of Darkness" — 2:46
12. "Steeds of Thunder" — 3:28
13. "Rogue’s Hollow" — 1:15
14. "Warrior’s Dawn" — 4:13
15. "The Siege" — 3:51
16. "Dragon Riders" — 3:08
17. "Flame Tongue" — :57
18. "Defenders of the Realm" — 4:28
19. "Chamber of the Immortals" — 1:39
20. "Blood of the Dragon" — 3:11
21. "Eternal Champions" — 4:15*
    • A hidden track on this recording provides an audio clue to solving a riddle that's hidden inside this album.