Oculus Infernum: Halloween Tale

Van Helsing's Curse | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 7, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Koch Records
• ASIN: B0000CD5GU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #215,725 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #69 in Music > Miscellaneous > Holiday > Halloween

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Popular Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 7-OCT-2003

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Orchestral and Spooky Compositional Tour de Force, June 26, 2004

By 

CreepyT "CreepyTendencies" (Colorado, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Oculus Infernum: Halloween Tale (Audio CD)

Dee Snider, of Twisted Sister fame, has managed to put together a rather notable concept album with this latest project. Inspired by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Van Helsing's Curse sets out to impart upon the listener a creepy Halloween experience mixed with dark and formidable classical selections, and they indeed achieve their goal. Van Helsing's Curse combines electronic elements with crunching guitars, operatic vocals (including a choir singing in Latin), unnerving sound effects, and well-known classical music to create some outstanding compositional medleys that manage to be spooky, orchestral, and powerful all at the same time.

Some highly recognizable pieces included are "Rite of Spring" by Stravinsky, "Night on Bald Mountain" by Musgorski, "Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Greig, "Funeral March" by Chopin, "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven, and "Carmina Burana." Also included are "Ave Satani" from the movie "The Omen," as well as "Tubular Bells" from the movie "The Exorcist," which any fan of the horror genre can appreciate. Black Sabbath's self-titled song is also revamped and has its place on this album.

Woven into these classical masterpieces, however, is a somewhat cheesy story involving a child whose innocence is to lift a demonic curse (referred to only as "it" or "the entity") placed on the Van Helsing family. Furthermore, Dee Snider's narration comes off as being overly dramatic and extremely contrived, cheapening the listening experience to some extent. In fact, the music really could have stood quite well on it's own.

Paltry story line aside, the masterful musical arrangements make this CD well worth a listen, particularly on a cold, dark Halloween night. It will be interesting to see what Van Helsing's Curse comes up with next, as they improve upon these well-laid foundations. Overall, "Oculus Infernum" is an outstanding melding of 80's style heavy metal with classical compositions. Van Helsing's Curse has created a savory blend of fierce and unsettling music that has earned its place as a soundtrack for Halloween.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oculus Infernum, October 10, 2003

By 

Igor (Horror-Web.Com) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oculus Infernum: Halloween Tale (Audio CD)

I would describe the sounds of Van Helsing's Curse as Midnight Syndicate meets Trans Siberian Orchestra. Melodic yet hard core and sure to please any classical fan as well as you rockers out there. This 18 piece orchestral ensemble mixed with narration by Dee Snider of Twisted Sister Fame, makes this undoubtedly THE soundtrack for Halloween this year.

The feel of this CD is heavy, edgy, rock orchestrated music - mixed with the narration of a terrorizing tale involving Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Character Of Bram Stoker's "Dracula") saving the day. I think this concept can really take the music world to the next level. We all used to listen to "Peter and the Wolf" and such in grade school music class, but the ante is upped now, this is for us BIG kids!

On this CD you will hear flecks of tributes of familiar tunes such as: "Tubular Bells" , "In the Hall of the Mountain King", "Ave Satani", "Dies Irae", "Carmina Burana", and many many more.

Definitely the best 47 minutes I've ever spent in hell! Very clean, very sharp, very heavy!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the edge of your seat..., November 28, 2003

By 

Kristine Knife (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oculus Infernum: Halloween Tale (Audio CD)

...this CD kept me on the edge of my seat from the first note through to the last. From the heart pounding drums to the ear piercing choir, it sucks you in. The icing on the cake is the tantalizing violin that brings to mind someone tickling your neck with sharp scissors. Van Helsing's Curse does for Halloween what Trans Siberian Orchestra does for Christmas.
review by: the child