NEWS – Midnight Syndicate Talk Exclusively About Their New Album

“There’s something about a carnival that sparks the imagination, much like the supernatural and horror do. When you blend those elements together the possibilities are endless,” claims Edward Douglas, the mastermind behind Midnight Syndicate. Formed in the mid-1990s, the band have developed a cult following due to their atmospheric albums, blending gothic synthesisers with brooding orchestral scores. Next month will see the release of their fourteenth studio album, Carnival Arcane, following last year’s acclaimed Halloween Music Collection. The album will feature contributions from Jason Carter, best known for his role in the hit sci-fi show Babylon 5, as well as his appearance in Douglas’ directorial debut The Dead Matter.

As with much of Midnight Syndicate‘s work Carnival Arcane follows a concept. Douglas explains, “It’s Midnight Syndicate‘s take on the whole “dark carnival” theme – a concept we’ve been talking about exploring for many years now. The first half of the disc takes you through different parts of this carnival. About halfway through something “happens” and things then take a decidedly nasty turn. I’d call it a mixture of fantasy, Victorian, steam punk and classic horror.” The key narrative that flows through the album centres around the Lancaster Rigby Carnival, a sininster travelling circus during the early years of the twentieth century.

Both Douglas and his Midnight Syndicate collaborator Gavin Goszka felt that it was important to research this kind of world in order to re-create an authentic portrayal of a specific period in time. To help with their quest they turned to the Darkride and Funhouse Enthusiasts, a non-profit organisation that specialises in carnival history. “They had a lot of great images, stories and information about early carnivals, early rides and, of course, funhouses,” says Douglas regarding the assistance that the DAFE provided. “From there it was a matter of adding the more fantastic elements. Being that it was a journey through a “dark” carnival, we definitely were inspired by Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes.”

With the concept being so ambitious, it was important that Midnight Syndicate experimented and expanded their sound, incorporating new ideas and venturing into unexplored territories. To help tell the story, Douglas decided to seek voiceover assistance from actors Brian Van Camp and Dennis Carter Jr., both of whom he had worked with on The Dead Matters. “There were concerns, because we knew going into this disc that we would need some very specialised, hard-to-find sound effects, textures and vocal FX,” admits Goszka regarding the challenges the musicians faced. “In the end we were able to achieve what we were going for and we feel, without a doubt, this disc will have the most tangible atmosphere of any of the discs we’ve done to date.”

Douglas shares the enthusiasm of his friend, “We always say that our discs our “soundtracks to imaginary film.” This particular disc feels more like a “virtual movie” than anything we’ve done to date. That’s in large part due to our focus on sound design. We’re always trying to push ourselves, push the boundaries for this style of music (this type of CD). I feel we’ve done that… This is a fun disc. It’s the kind of disc I hope people listen to in a darkened room from start to finish, as there is a real flow to it. There’s a story there (although we always want to leave the details of what’s happening up to the listener). It’s also a real treat listening to it in headphones!!”

Carnival Arcane will be released on August 2nd. Visit the official site for more information.

Read an exclusive interview with Edward Douglas at our sister site, Dr. Gore’s Funhouse.com, in which he discusses his directorial debut, The Dead Matter.