The Ghost Within: The Tale of Turmoil

The Ghost Within: The Tale of Turmoil is the second studio album by N Pa. A concept album, it was released independently on September 24th, 2013 along with his fifth EP Unorthodox. The album was later re-issued on December 9th, 2013 by Arctic Mode as an Extended Play.

Background
In May 2013, the albums tracklist was officially confirmed on Tumblr along with background on the albums premise and inception.

The album is the second installment, and first album to be released in The Ghost Within Trilogy which includes Tomorrow Comes Today (TBA) and The Ghost Within: Melinda's Madness (The Downfall) (TBA).

The album is narrated by Michael Leonard (who also goes by Rain-King and Floatstoneheart). Leonard was featured on the tracks Kinetic and Longest Night from his debut album, Sight & Sound.

Concept
The album is about our main character Turmoil - which is a play-on-words. The story is not about the death of the main character, but about the fight and uncertainty that is in all of us when we’re trying to move on when something tragic happens such as the loss of a loved one. The story goes in and out of the realms of the Reality and Lucid Dreams/nightmares that Turmoil experiences. The antagonists of the album are The Ghost Within (and his minions), and Melinda (who is unnamed throughout the album), Turmoil's lost love.

Description of the albums concept summary was revealed on N Pa's Tumblr:


 * "Devastated by the love of his life leaving him, Turmoil, finds himself drowning in a cesspool of depression and wanting out of his emotional roller coaster ride. The ghost within haunts his thoughts as he feels his grips on sanity slipping away. The listener gets taken on his journey through madness and back again. Join Turmoil in his process musically, and evolve as he does, and as the music progresses, so will he."


 * - written by Josh Wright (story by Nicholas Pavoni)

Singles

 * Memories was the first single released from the album. It was released on September 7th, 2010 by Stereo FX on iTunes. It features remixes by Neon Night Club and Giulio Maddaloni.


 * Release Me was the second single from the album. It was released on April 16th, 2012 on Release Me: The Remixes EP as a free download in conjunction with Stereo FX. It contains remixes by HyJax, Giulio Maddaloni, Leonidas, Halo In Reverse, and Roxmaker.


 * Sea of Darkness  was the third and final single released from the album. It was posted on N Pa's Soundcloud, but subsequently taken down prior to the albums release. It was remixed by Gabrielle Ag.

EP Edition
On November 13, 2013, FeelRec, a London based Independent Record label announced on their Twitter that their Sub-label Arctic Mode will be re-issuing the album as an EP.

The EP was released on December 9, 2013 on iTunes, Spotify, AmazonMP3, Google Play, and more. It features 5 tracks from the albums initial release, exluding "Prologue (The Beginning)", "Blistered", "Interlude (The Battle)", and "On The Inside".

Animated Album Cover
On November 14, 2013, it was revealed that Swedish graphic designer Alexander Stubbe would be creating an animated album cover based on the album's cover art.

On March 18, 2014, the animated album cover was released on Alexander Stubbe's Youtube account. It was subsequently taken down three months later, and added to N Pa's Youtube channel.

Reception
A review of the album by COMA Music Magazine was posted on their website on December 6, 2013 giving the album a positive review stating: "Overall, this album has a Trance feel to it, with elements of Dubstep. The vocals in all of the tracks fit quite well, as they feel ethereal, sort of floating through, laid gently over the music. The music definitely captures the dreamy essence that N Pa was going for, with the tracks possessing a haunted, dream-like quality."

Track listing

 * 1) Prologue (The Beginning) – 1:32
 * 2) Turmoil (feat. Xenoc) – 3:41
 * 3) Memories (feat. Meital Cohen of Knob and NPC) – 7:00
 * 4) Blistered (feat. Chris Volz of Flaw) – 5:50
 * 5) Sea of Darkness (feat. Richard Bush of The Peace Creeps, Bobby Jasso, Taylor Barefoot, & Bionik) – 6:10
 * 6) Interlude (The Battle) (feat. David Wong, The Electronic Violinist) – 0:50
 * 7) On The Inside (feat. Frank Pino, Jr. of Waltham) – 7:20
 * 8) Release Me (feat. Pete Murray of Lo-Pro, Space Camp Stowaways, and DJ Darkside) – 6:58
 * 9) Not Today (feat. FloatstoneHeart, Esper Fiction, and Kate Wild) – 5:26

Personnel
All tracks produced by Nicholas Pavoni except where noted.

Writers: Musicians: Co-Production: Mixing/Mastering:
 * Aaron Zafran on Track 2
 * Meital Patash-Cohen and Dvir André Tzanua on Track 3
 * Christopher Volz on Track 4
 * Frank Pino, Jr. on Track 7
 * Pete Murray and Luke Jackson on Track 8
 * Michael Leonard and Joshua Spradlin on Track 9
 * Nicholas Pavoni on Tracks 1, 5, and 6
 * Taylor Barefoot - Electric Guitar on Track 5
 * David Wong - Electric Violin on Track 6
 * Jeremy Berghorst - Acoustic/Electric Guitar on Track 8
 * Aaron Zafran on Track 2
 * Jarad Moloney on Track 3
 * Stefon Taylor on Track 5
 * Mark Liebrand and Jeremy Berghorst on Track 8
 * Joshua Spradlin on Track 9
 * Mixing done by: Nicholas Pavoni
 * Tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 9 mastered by: Alex Fooks
 * Tracks 5 and 7 mastered by: Joshua Steffen
 * Track 3 mastered by: Niv Cohen

Samples

 * Track 2 contains samples and elements from "Turmoil" by Xenoc
 * Track 3 contains elements of "A Life in Memory", a Science Channel documentary
 * Track 5 contains samples from "Karma (Comin' In For The Kill)" by Bobby Jasso and Frank Gryner
 * Track 7 contains samples from "Ilyena" by The Mars Volta
 * Track 9 is derived from a demo of "Not Today" by Floatstoneheart