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Revision as of 22:58, 21 February 2006 by GuardianZ (talk | contribs) (timeline organization, removed dead link brackets, wikify)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)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 Halloween haunted houses.
Formation
Composer Edward Douglas created Midnight Syndicate in 1996. Members at the time included Scott Angus, Edward Douglas, Jeff Kasunic, Mark Rakocy, Toni Demci, Dennis Carleton, and Christopher Robichaud. This group of college students created a self-titled debut album of experminetal and ecclectic sounds, incuding rap, country, humor-pop, and new age or neo-classical, which was released in support of a student film by Edward Douglas. The album was referred to as "cine-fusion," described as "a blend of movie soundtrack music and pop-music, a compilation of sounds to movies that do not exist." After 1997, all of the band members except Edward Douglas seem to have gone their separate ways, as there is no further mention of them in relation to writing music for this group.
In 1998, Gavin Goszka joined the group, and along with Edward Douglas they teamed up with gothic fantasy artist and publisher, Joseph Vargo, who stepped in as the executive producer and creative director for the band and released the critically acclaimed gothic horror soundtracks Born of the Night and Realm of Shadows. This made Midnight Syndicate the standard for the Halloween and Haunted Attraction industries. Midnight Syndicate's music is heard throughout the Halloween season - everywhere from Universal Studios Orlando and Paramount and Six Flags theme parks to many haunted attractions and homes across America. In addition to being featured in X-Box games and television shows as diverse as Barbara Walters’ specials and Monday Night Football, the band recently developed a soundtrack for the classic roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons. In 2005, they released their seventh CD entitled The 13th Hour.
Continuing
Midnight Syndicate has teamed up with Warner Brothers-based Snap Kick Productions to score the upcoming horror film, "Sin-Jin Smyth" (scheduled for release in the Fall of 2006). 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." The band's next CD, "Out of the Darkness," will be released in summer 2006.
Discography
Midnight Syndicate Discography:
- 1997: Midnight Syndicate (self-titled)
- 1998: Born of the Night
- 1999: Realm of Shadows
- 2001: Gates of Delirium
- 2002: Vampyre
- 2003: Dungeons & Dragons
- 2005: The 13th Hour
References
- Julie E. Washington, "Haunting Tunes Are Goth Band's Specialty", The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), October 30, 2000, Sec. arts, Pg. 1E.
- Jason Bracelin, "Scream Kings", Scene Magazine (Cleveland, OH), May 25, 2005, Sec. Features, Pg. 10-13.
- Sin-Jin Smyth film website
- The Rage film website