Oct 27, 2013

Sundaze 1343 Halloween

Hello, so Vettel starts on pole again, but has opened the door to Webber as he's got the longer run start upfront, Vettel rode an unnecessary laprecord he'd certainly been front row on the slower hard tire, could be an interesting race tomorrow. Last week i promised some Guthrie Budd but i forgot about Halloween this week, i will get to them later. Halloween what started out as a time to honour the departed and forefathers has been transformed by the US into a feast of fear. Fear and greed, the words that have defined the US these last decades.

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Today's artist's specialty is making scary, atmospheric Halloween/gothic horror music that they call "soundtracks for the imagination" or "soundtracks to imaginary films", where the listener can picture a haunted world of their own creation by using their imagination.... ... N'Joy

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Composer/filmmaker Edward Douglas formed Midnight Syndicate in 1996 shortly after releasing a micro-budget, direct-to-video horror film called The Dead Matter (1996) which he directed and scored and would later remake.[2] Midnight Syndicate's self-titled debut album was released the following year. 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."

In 1998, Douglas teamed up with gothic fantasy artist Joseph Vargo, and the two decided to create an exclusively dark-themed instrumental Midnight Syndicate album. Vargo developed the storyline and concept of a musical journey through a haunted castle, with the music reflecting his gothic artwork. Composer Gavin Goszka, formerly a solo artist in a project called Lore, also joined Douglas and Vargo in the new Midnight Syndicate line-up. Together, they created Born of the Night, a groundbreaking album that appealed to fans of gothic music, the horror genre, and haunted attractions. Douglas and Goszka wrote and performed the music on the album while Vargo served as executive producer and creative director of the project, as well as writing and performing the vocals and narrations, and designing the cover art and packaging. The album and songs were also titled after several of Vargo's most popular paintings. Born of the Night was independently released in September 1998 through Vargo's Monolith Graphics and Douglas' Entity Productions, hitting the horror market just in time for the Halloween season. It was Midnight Syndicate's first critically acclaimed gothic-horror soundtrack and proved to be an instant success, establishing Midnight Syndicate's trademark sound.

In March 2000, Realm of Shadows followed suit with the same flavor of dark instrumental music and another gothic setting. Douglas and Goszka wrote all of the music for this album while Vargo wrote and performed the opening narration and theme story. Again, the songs were titled after Vargo's artworks. 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.

Midnight Syndicate's third gothic horror soundtrack, Gates of Delirium, was released in 2001. 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). Set in a Victorian haunted mental institution called Haverghast Asylum, Gates of Delirium was the first Midnight Syndicate disc to feature the fictitious Haverghast family, a theme the band would revisit on future discs such as The 13th Hour. Gavin Goszka has since called Gates of Delirium "a personal favorite" from the Midnight Syndicate library.

During the 2001 Halloween weekend, six of the band's mp3 singles were in the Top 20 for all of MP3.com (#1, No. 2, No. 7, No. 10, No. 12, and No. 19) registering over 100,000 listens in three days. The title track from Born of the Night remained at No. 1 for over a week with two tracks from Gates of Delirium maintaining their positions in the Top 40 as well.

In August 2002, the band released their fifth studio album Vampyre. The vampire-themed disc was the first Midnight Syndicate disc to feature a cover designed by fantasy artist Keith Parkinson. By this time, the band's popularity with role-playing gamers who used their discs as background for their sessions had grown to where they were exhibiting at gaming conventions. It was at one of these conventions that the band was approached by designers from Wizards of the Coast. The result was 2003's Dungeons & Dragons: Official Role-playing Soundtrack, the first officially-licensed soundtrack to the classic roleplaying game of the same name. The album (whose fantasy themes were a departure from previous releases) was generally well received by music critics and the gaming community and helped the band build their following in Europe.

In August 2005, the band returned to darker themes with their seventh CD entitled The 13th Hour. Featuring vocal effects by Lily Lane of the horror-rock band Lazy Lane and cover art by Keith Parkinson the disc is set in a haunted Victorian mansion and features tracks like: Fallen Grandeur, Grisly Reminder, and Family Secrets. 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 including The Dead Matter (1995)

In early 2007, the band temporarily shifted from creating "soundtracks to imaginary films" to composing music for actual projects when they completed the score to Robert Kurtzman's, The Rage and wrote music for Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights 17's Carnival of Carnage. The Rage: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released in February 2008. In September 2007, Douglas had returned to filmmaking as director, co-producer, and composer of an updated remake of his 1995 horror film, The Dead Matter. During this time, Gavin Goszka started a solo project called Parlormuse which featured Victorian era songs re-recorded in a modern folk rock style.

In August 2008, the band released The Dead Matter: Cemetery Gates, a CD of music inspired by the themes from the new The Dead Matter movie. Midnight Syndicate's first two music videos were made for the songs Dark Legacy and Lost from the disc. In the finale of the music video for Dark Legacy, Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka are shown playing on stage at the historic Phantasy Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio. It marked the first time they had played together live.

On July 30, 2010 The Dead Matter movie was released on DVD along with a Midnight Syndicate "greatest hits-style" compilation CD called Halloween Music Collection and an EP entitled The Dark Masquerade featuring gothic artist Destini Beard performing operatic vocals and lyrics to various Midnight Syndicate recordings. The Dead Matter: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was also released on July 30. The CD featured the score by Edward Douglas, other music that appeared in the film, and several remixes of Midnight Syndicate tracks by other artists.

In August 2011, the band released its fourteenth studio album, entitled Carnival Arcane. The theme of the album surrounds a fictional turn of the century traveling circus called The Lancaster Rigby Carnival. It was inspired by research into carnivals of that time period and Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. In 2012, the album won the Best CD category in the 2012 Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.

In February 2013, the band's song Into The Abyss from Out of the Darkness was featured as an outtro on the Misfits live album, DEA.D Alive. In 2012, the band scored the horror creature feature film, Axe Giant: The Revenge of Paul Bunyan. The film is a dark contemporary take on the legend of Paul Bunyan and premiered on the Syfy Channel in June of 2013. In July of 2013 the band released a new studio album entitled Monsters of Legend. Featuring images from Bride of Frankenstein and Werewolf of London on the cover, the album was influenced by classic Universal Monsters, Hammer Films, Amicus Productions, and Euro Horror films from the 60's and 70's as well as composers like James Bernard, Bernard Herrmann, and Max Steiner.

On September 11, 2009, AOL Radio released a list of the Top 10 Best Halloween Music CDs as ranked by AOL/CBS Radio listeners. Three of the ten CDs were Midnight Syndicate discs (Born of the Night No. 8, Realm of Shadows No. 4, and Vampyre No. 3), ranking behind Danny Elfman's The Nightmare Before Christmas and John Carpenter's Halloween soundtrack.

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fter the 1997 lack-luster release of their multi-genre self-titled first CD, Midnight Syndicate and founding member Ed Douglas added the talents of Gavin Goszka and Joseph Vargo. The trio "turned to the dark side," and concentrated their efforts toward nurturing the sound that has made the group what it is today- the premier purveyor of gothic atmosphere music. The result was the wonderful "Born of the Night."

You either love the genre, or hate it. And call it what you will- Nightmare Soundtracks, Gothic Soundscapes, or Halloween Haunt Music, all describe Midnight Syndicate's work. It is both richly orchestrated and roughly dynamic, soothing and chilling, a sweet sorrow and a terrible foreboding. It is a living, breathing entity that can be a fond memory of a departed friend, or a demonic serpent coiled to strike. This album doesn't support a movie, but the music certainly can spur your imagination to create scenes and characters to go along with it!



Midnight Syndicate - Born Of The Night (flac  209mb)

01 Premonition 2:35
02 Darkness Descends 2:00
03 Born Of The Night 3:15
04 Lost Souls 1:21
05 Dark Tower 3:17
06 The Apparition 1:07
07 Gargoyles 2:49
08 Lurking Fear 1:02
09 Shadows ("Dark Folk '98") 3:06
10 Whispers 0:27
11 Solemn Reflections 2:51
12 Haunted Nursery 2:48
13 Woe 1:35
14 Masque Of Sorrow 2:08
15 Requiem 2:58
16 Dungeon 0:58
17 Something Wicked 3:13
18 Vampires Kiss (Theme To "The Dead Matter") 2:20
19 Nightstalker 2:44
20 Midnight 1:26
21 Forbidden Crypts 2:12

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Venture to the Realm of Shadows where restless spirits arise from unknown depths to wander the shores of night. Midnight Syndicate blends haunting orchestrations and sinister sound effects to create a dark, gothic soundscape. Dim the lights, but take heed... What darkness conjures, the night harbors.

"Realm of Shadows" is an eerie soundscape set in a desolate village beyond the coast of Raven's Hollow. It was said that centuries ago, all of the occupants suddenly vanished during a thunderstorm, and that a curse (indicated by a murder of squawking black birds) condemned the missing inhabitants to forever stay in the crumbling dwellings. With this synopsis in mind, composers Gavin Goszka and Edward Douglas composed an original score for a movie yet to be made, one where the listener's mind is free to decide the action. Dominated by droning cellos, moaning choirs, trolling trumpets, and fragile piano keys, "Realm of Shadows" emits sepulchral melodies that crawl through the muddy earth and dive in the crashing waves.



Midnight Syndicate - Realm of Shadows (flac  257mb)

01 Prophecy 1:49
02 Into The Abyss 5:00
03 Noctem Aeturnus 2:32
04 Tempest 1:19
05 Eye Of The Storm 2:35
06 Sanctuary 2:32
07 Among The Ruins 1:47
08 Realm Of Shadows 2:57
09 Raven's Hollow 1:11
10 Beyond The Gates 2:02
11 The Summoning 3:13
12 Spectral Mist 2:13
13 Soliloquy 3:04
14 Twilight 2:43
15 Serpent's Lair 0:59
16 Black Woods 2:48
17 The Night Beckons 2:25
18 Legions Of The Dead 2:45
19 Witching Hour 2:50
20 Harbored Souls 1:44
21 Eclipse 3:25

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"Gates of Delirium takes listeners on a journey into the haunting world of Haverghast Asylum. The "plot,", is one patients epic into the depths of insanity, tortured by merciless wardens,and locked for eternity in Haverghast (as the head worden is heard indistinctly in the final two tracks) as "a worthwhile experiment."

Musically this album expands from where the duo's last album left off. With a slightly higher production value, composers Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka have created a much more expressive and spastic score for the horror genre. While 2000's "Realm of Shadows" conjures an imaginative adventure endured by one hero, "Gates of Delirium" is seen through the eyes of many characters at once. Dominated by agitated violins, a grim piano, and a few cellos, this album is a one-way trip through a Victorian hell.



Midnight Syndicate - Gates of Delirium (flac  262mb)

01 Never Enough 2:52
02 Quelque Jour 3:00
03 (My Baby Was A) Cheat 2:46
04 New Girl 2:59
05 The Visit 4:32
06 You 4:59
07 Touch Me 3:57
08 Innocent 4:48
09 Beyond The Furr 3:10
10 Close The World 6:47
Beyond The Furr EP
11 Beyond The Furr 3:06
12 Crystal Mountain 3:25
13 Perfect Day 4:14

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps a re-up of these Midnight Syndicates in FLAC please?

Anonymous said...

Hello rho-xs, excellent post, but I could not download the files because they had expired. Do you think you could re-upload midnight syndicate files, especially those of cloudyfiles and sendspace since they are inactive? Thank you and congratulation for your blog!!...is phenomenal. Greetings