Midnight Syndicate

Midnight Syndicate

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 similar to their later releases to industrial, horrorbilly, rap, new age, swing, humor-pop, and space. Movie-style sound effects were featured in most of the tracks. A multimedia show was produced to support the album.

File:Realm of shadows cd cover.jpg

Realm of Shadows album cover.

In 1998, Douglas teamed up with gothic fantasy artist and publisher Joseph Vargo, who also filled the roles of executive producer, creative director, lyricist, vocalist, and cover art designer for the new line up. Composer Gavin Goszka also joined the group. Together, Douglas and Goszka would write almost all of the music on the Midnight Syndicate discs to come. That same year they released the band's first critically acclaimed gothic horror soundtrack, Born of the Night, followed in 2000 by Realm of Shadows. Both albums (as well as the future Midnight Syndicate releases) were featured in Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights as well as being played in many other major theme parks during Halloween, such as Thorpe Park's Fright Nights. In addition, the heavy metal band King Diamond featured tracks from Born of the Night as opening music for their 2001 US tour. Midnight Syndicate and Joseph Vargo parted ways after Realm of Shadows.

In 2001, Midnight Syndicate’s third gothic horror soundtrack entitled Gates of Delirium was released. For this disc, Edward Douglas and Gavin 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 a huge success 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 CD, Vampyre.

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The 13th Hour album cover.

In 2003, the band released the first officially licensed soundtrack to the classic roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons. Some of their tracks were later featured in computer games Shadowbane and Baldur's Gate II. In 2005, Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka 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.

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.

As stated in Haunted Attraction Magazine, the success of these CDs over the course of time has made Midnight Syndicate the standard for the Halloween and haunted attraction industries. The music has appeared in mainstream television programs like Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People of 2002, The Ellen Degeneres Show and Monday Night Football.

Midnight Syndicate has also had an impact in the hobby gaming industry. In 2006, Midnight Syndicate's The 13th Hour won the Origins Award for Best Gaming Accessory presented by the Academy of Adventure Game Art & Design. This marked the first time a roleplaying soundtrack or music CD won the award.

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)

Print References

• John Horton, "Scary music writers accomplish ghouls", The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), October 17, 2006, Sec. Main, Pg. A1.
• Leonard Pickel, "Midnight Syndicate - Setting the Mood for an Industry", Haunted Attraction Magazine (Charlotte, NC), June 2006, Pg. 24-28, 38-41
• Heather Adler, "Haunted Memories", Rue Morgue (Toronto, ON), October 2005, Pg. 131
• Jason Bracelin, "Scream Kings", Scene (Cleveland, OH), May 25, 2005, Sec. Features, Pg. 10-13.
• Peter Iorillo, "Something Wicked This Way Comes", Dark Realms (Cleveland, OH), Issue 1, January 2001, Pg. 20-23.
• Julie E. Washington, "Haunting Tunes Are Goth Band's Specialty", The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), October 30, 2000, Sec. arts, Pg. 1E.

External Links

• Midnight Syndicate band website
• Midnight Syndicate on MySpace
• All Music Guide
• The Origins Awards
• Midnight Syndicate Legions of the Night fansite
• Midnight Syndicate Yahoo group

Interviews

• Interview in Haunted Attraction Magazine
• Interview on Horror Channel
• Interview at Flames Rising
• Scene Magazine Interview
• Legends Magazine Interview
• Dark Realms Magazine Interview with Midnight Syndicate