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Midnight Syndicate is a Cleveland-based musical group that has been working mainly in the genre of gothic horror music since 1998. A 1997 self-titled release covered multiple mainstream genres. Their music is commonly used to provide atmosphere in both Halloween haunted houses and the gaming industry.
Formation
Composer/filmmaker Edward Douglas founded Midnight Syndicate in 1996. In 1997, their self-titled debut was released. A majority of music on the album was written, arranged, and performed by Edward Douglas. Contributors included Scott Angus, Mark Rakocy, Dennis Carleton, Jamie Barbour, Ray Portler, the rap act Dark Side, and Christopher Robichaud. Douglas coined the term “cine-fusion” to describe the album. Cine-fusion is described in the album’s liner notes as
- "a blending of movie soundtrack music and pop music... a compilation of soundtracks to movies that do not exist. The goal of the music is to stimulate the imaginations of listeners so that they are able to transport themselves to worlds or movies of their own creation."
The album contained an eclectic blend of musical styles which included everything from dark instrumental music (three tracks which appeared on later releases) to techno, horrorbilly, rap, new age, swing, humor-pop, and space. Movie-style sound effects were employed and a multimedia show was produced to support the album.
In October of 1997 Douglas teamed up with gothic fantasy artist and publisher Joseph Vargo, who filled the roles of executive producer, creative director, lyricist, vocalist, and cover art designer for the new line up and sharpened its focus on an exclusively darker sound. Composer Gavin Goszka joined in early 1998, and the trio released Born of the Night later that same year. It was Midnight Syndicate's first critically acclaimed gothic/horror soundtrack and provided a successful formula for the rest of their albums. Realm of Shadows followed suit in 2000, and both albums were featured as "official soundtracks" for Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights, and used in several other major theme parks during Halloween, such as Busch Gardens, Cedar Point and Thorpe Park's Fright Nights event. The heavy metal band King Diamond featured tracks from Born of the Night as opening music for their 2000 US tour. After Realm of Shadows, the band announced a line up change once again; Joseph Vargo turned his attentions to his other publishing projects, while Douglas and Goszka continued to write music as Midnight Syndicate.
In 2001, Midnight Syndicate released a third gothic horror soundtrack entitled Gates of Delirium. This time Douglas and Goszka teamed up with two members who worked on the first Midnight Syndicate cd, Mark Rakocy (graphic design) and Christopher Robichaud (vocals). This particular album was successful on MP3.com, where it held six spots in their Top 20 positions during Halloween that year. In 2002, Midnight Syndicate called on artist Keith Parkinson to design the packaging for their fourth gothic soundtrack Vampyre. In 2003, the band released the first official soundtrack to the classic roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons. Some of the tracks were later used in computer games Shadowbane and Baldur's Gate II.
In 2005, they released their seventh CD, The 13th Hour. It featured vocal effects by Lily Lane of the horror-rock band, Lazy Lane, and another cover by Keith Parkinson. In 2006 The 13th Hour won the Origins Award for Best Gaming Accessory presented by the Academy of Adventure Game Art & Design, marking the first time a music cd won the award.
Out of the Darkness - Retrospective: 1994-1999 was released in 2006 and featured re-recorded versions of tracks from Midnight Syndicate, Born of the Night, and Realm of Shadows, along with some of Edward Douglas’ early horror film scores. Fantasy artist Rob Alexander designed the cover for this release, as well as a new cover for Gates of Delirium.
Over the course of time Midnight Syndicate has become popular with the Halloween and haunted attraction industries. In addition to having the music playing in many major theme parks during Halloween, it also appeared in mainstream television programs like Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People of 2002, The Ellen Degeneres Show and Monday Night Football, and was used in horror films such as Demons at the Door and Dead and Rotting.
Future projects
Midnight Syndicate has teamed up with Snap Kick Productions to score the upcoming horror film, Sin-Jin Smyth. Additionally they recently signed on to score Robert Kurtzman’s film, The Rage. In 2006, Edward Douglas will begin pre-production on the horror suspense film he will be directing, The Dead Matter. Previously filmed in 1996 with a very small budget, The Dead Matter was co-written (with Tony Demci), directed, and scored by Edward Douglas. Demci and Douglas have rewritten the script for the new film.
Discography
Midnight Syndicate Discography:
- 1997: Midnight Syndicate
- 1998: Born of the Night
- 2000: Realm of Shadows
- 2001: Gates of Delirium
- 2002: Vampyre: Symphonies from the Crypt
- 2003: Dungeons & Dragons
- 2005: The 13th Hour
- 2006: Out of the Darkness (Retrospective: 1994-1999)
References
- From cd liner notes songs from the 1997 debut Midnight Syndicate that reappear on later albums: The album Born of the Night(1998) contains "Theme to the Dead Matter" (from the 1996 film of the same name) remixed and retitled "Vampire's Kiss," "Enchanted Nursery" remixed and retitled "Haunted Nursery" and "Dark Folk" remixed and retitled "Shadows." The album Out of the Darkness (2006) also contains these same three songs (listing both titles), as well as several more songs from both the Born of the Night and Realm of Shadows albums and one sound effect track from a 1994 short film, Journey Into Dementia by Edward Douglas.
- 1998 Radio Interview with Douglas, Vargo and Goszka Cleveland's WERE 1300
- Larry Aylward, "Music To Chill By", The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), October 22, 1998.
- Quoting Edward Douglas from an Interview at Krepuskulum: "It was the “Born of the Night” album that really established Midnight Syndicate’s trademark sound."
- Jeff Niesel, "Soundbites", Scene Magazine (Cleveland, OH), October 14, 1999.
- Peter Iorillo, "Something Wicked This Way Comes", Interview at Dark Realms Magazine (Cleveland, OH), Issue 1, January 2001, Pg. 20-23.]
- Interview at Legends Magazine
- Jason Bracelin, "Scream Kings", Interview at Scene Magazine (Cleveland, OH), May 25, 2005, Sec. Features, Pg. 10-13.
- Heather Adler, "Haunted Memories", Rue Morgue Magazine (Toronto, ON), October 2005, Pg. 131
- Interview at Flames Rising
- Interview at Horror Channel
- Leonard Pickel, "Midnight Syndicate - Setting the Mood for an Industry", Interview at Haunted Attraction Magazine (Charlotte, NC), June 2006, Pg. 24-28, 38-41.
- John Horton, "Scary music writers accomplish ghouls", The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), October 17, 2006, Sec. Main, Pg. A1.
External Links
- Midnight Syndicate band website
- Midnight Syndicate on MySpace
- All Music Guide
- The Origins Awards
- Legions of the Night (a website created by Midnight Syndicate for fans and haunt lisitngs)
- Midnight Syndicate Yahoo group