Midnight
Syndicate releases MONSTERS OF LEGEND album
July
19, 2013 (Cleveland, OH) – Symphonic gothic horror musicians MIDNIGHT SYNDICATE
have just released their sixteenth studio album, MONSTERS OF
LEGEND. This “tribute to the golden age of horror” is inspired by
horror films from the silent era, Universal Studios’ horror classics, Hammer
Films, and other European horror films of the 60s and 70s. It features
the sweeping symphonic horror instrumental music and sound effects in the
signature style the band helped pioneer. "We want to make you feel like
you are a character in one of those classic horror films - that you've entered
a world where any one of those iconic Universal monsters could be right around the
corner," said composer EDWARD DOUGLAS. The CD artwork features
original images from classic Universal Studios horror movies including BRIDE OF
FRANKENSTEIN, WEREWOLF OF LONDON, and DRACULA.
“Those
classic horror films are at the core of what we do in Midnight Syndicate, so to
do an entire disc based on them was a lot fun,” added Douglas. “Musically
it required us to use more traditional orchestral instruments, and use them in
more ways than we have in the past. The result is a fuller orchestral
sound with a heavy classical music influence. There are plenty of
nods to James Bernard, Bernard Herrmann, and other early film composers.”
Although the band promises the new disc will deliver the dark atmosphere
haunted house designers, roleplaying gamers, and Halloween music enthusiasts
expect from them, they feel they've crafted a disc that transcends their
favorite time of the year. “Like CARNIVAL ARCANE, we feel we’ve taken
things up a notch both musically and with the sound design on this release,” said
GAVIN GOSZKA. “There’s a lot there to listen to and lose yourself in.”
In
addition to over 50 minutes of new music, the band went back into its archives
and recreated several tracks from its early releases Born of the Night and Realm of Shadows, bringing the total
runtime of the disc to over 65 minutes. “Both the new album and those
older ones are set in and around the mysterious hamlet of Arcacia. We
felt it would be a great opportunity to breathe new life into a few of our
lesser known tracks from those discs to help tell this story. For
additional atmosphere the band called on voiceover artist Dick
Terhune. “Dick’s known throughout the haunted house industry as the
“Voice from Hell,” needless to say he was the perfect match for this disc,”
added Goskza.
The
CD is available now through the band’s website, as well as iTunes and Amazon.com. It will also be available in
select Halloween retailers beginning in August. A collector’s
edition 12” vinyl version is also available on the band’s site.
---
7/ 19 / 13
MIDNIGHT
SYNDICATE
For
almost two decades, composers Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka have been known
as Midnight Syndicate, creating symphonic soundtracks to imaginary films that
facilitate a transcendental and adventurous escape into the secret dimensions
of the mind’s eye. To many of their fans, they are Gothic music pioneers
brewing a signature blend of orchestral horror music and movie-style sound
effects. To others, they remain the first “haunted house band” that forever
changed the Halloween music genre and became a staple of the October holiday
season. And some know them as the duo that teamed up with Hasbro and Wizards of
the Coast to produce the first official soundtrack to the legendary Dungeons
& Dragons roleplaying game. Their critically-acclaimed works are
reminiscent of sweeping, complex masterpieces by artists such as James Horner,
Danny Elfman, Black Sabbath and King Diamond and have been featured as a part
of films, television shows, video games and at haunted attractions, amusement
parks, and live performances worldwide.
Midnight
Syndicate’s music has become integral to setting a powerful mood at top-rated haunted
attractions and amusement parks as well as at costume shops, gaming and
Halloween parties and Halloween-themed cruises from Siberia and Hong Kong, to
Europe and the United States. The duo has released 15 studio albums since 1997,
and Douglas and Goszka’s original, work also been used at Hugh Hefner’s
Halloween parties, on episodes of The Barbara Walters Special and in the drive-in
film The Rage, Universal
Studio’s Horror Nights XVIII as well as by Monday Night Football and by artists Insane
Clown Posse, Three Six Mafia, Twiztid and The Misfits. In 2010, Midnight
Syndicate released a full-length horror film called The Dead Matter, directed, scored and
co-produced by Douglas alongside Robert Kurtzman (From Dusk Till Dawn, co-founder, KNB FX)
and Gary Jones (Xena, Boogeyman 3).
Midnight
Syndicate continues to pursue its quest to use instrumental music to tell
explicit stories full of tension, twists and turns. Most recently, the band
completed the score to the grindhouse thriller Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul
Bunyan.
In summer, 2013, Midnight Syndicate will release the soundtrack to that film
along with Monsters of Legend, a tribute to the classic Universal, Hammer and
Euro horror films that gave birth to horror cinema, which will include
officially-licensed images from the Universal Studios vaults.
