# Midnight Syndicate "Carnival Arcane" CD track



## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

For those of you who are fans of Midnight Syndicate's music (and who isn't?), they've posted a preview track from their soon-to-be-released CD "Carnival Arcane" on YouTube. Have a listen:






This has quite a different sound to it, and I suspect the CD will be perfect for those who employ a carnival or circus theme in their haunts.


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

I actually found myself liking this track when I first heard it the other day. Since I'm a collector of Halloween music I'll probably pick this one up anyways but I hope this one track is not the BEST track. 

Forgive my negative stance on the band, but I've become jaded by their work and don't hold them anywhere nearly as highly as other haunters do. Seriously though after reading all the drama between Joseph Vargo (formerly of Midnight Syndicate and founder of Nox Arcana) and Gavin and Douglas I started seeing Midnight Syndicate for the hacks that they are. Vargo left Midnight Syndicate during the production of their second album Realm of Shadows over creative differences. And while the soundtrack for The Dead Matter is decent I haven't heard anything spectacular from them since Gates of Delirium. It all went downhill starting with Dungeons and Dragons IMHO. Now when I hear tracks from 13th Hour and later I can hear many of their older medleys repeating and rehashed in almost every track. Heck I can still hear old Born of the Night and Realm of Shadows medleys revised and reused in The Dead Matter.

Maybe I just like torturing myself or maybe I'm just a completist but I still buy their albums. The only one I didn't get and refuse to get is Out of the Darkness which has new material I can count on one hand out of the 24 tracks. I only find myself listening to four out of the ten albums of theirs I own. While I find myself coming back to almost EVERY Nox Arcana CD. Perhaps I like Nox Arcana more because all their albums are structured like Born of the Night and Realm of Shadows (due to Vargo's involvement with those) which were the two albums I cut my teeth on for this type of music.

Carnival Arcane (which I'm sure Vargo will claim is a rip on Nox Arcana's excellent Carnival of Lost Souls) sounds very promising and can't wait to hear more. Despite the drama it does seem like these guys are finally starting to find their own way.


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## kprimm (Mar 14, 2009)

Can't wait for this, I love everything from these guys. I am always looking for new Halloween type music and snatch it up as soon as I can.


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## BIGANT (Jul 13, 2010)

Here is how I view the two bands

Midnight is better at setting an atmosphere
Nox is better at setting a mood

Thats just how I view the two of them.


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

We have all the Midnight Syndicate CDs, so I'm looking forward to hearing the new one.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

I own almost every CD by midnight syndicate, minus dungeons and dragons. i just picked up two from Nox Arcana, Darklore manor and Transylvania. Don't know which others I should get. But I am also looking forward to this new one.


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

@BIGANT: Both are mood setters IMHO. I use a mix of the best of both while building, designing, or planning. But I haven't played neither in my haunt since 2006. For atmosphere I go with Lustmord, Allicorn, or Cellar of Rats every time.

@Spiderclimber: I liked Dungeons and Dragons when I first bought it but soon lost interest in it. As for Nox Arcana CDs - go with either Grimm Tales or Carnival of Lost Souls, those are the two I play the absolute most (and I have em ALL).


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I like both groups - somewhat different styles, but all good. Midnight Syndicate was actually our first introduction to haunt music that wasn't classical (like Night on Bald Mountain or The Sorcerer's Apprentice). We were at one of those temporary Halloween stores at a local mall a few years back and the clerk had a Syndicate CD playing. We loved it immediately and bought a copy, and have since picked up most of the others.

We currently have only one Nox Arcana (Grimm Tales and I agree with TM's recommendation on it) and plan on adding more to our collection.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

So Terror, 

Of Lustmord, Allicorn, etc, what CDs or tracks do you suggest. 

I always like getting new material to try out and see what the atmosphere feels like.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

I guess I have a different taste in music that I like to play at haunts or just listen to. I will listen to the Vampyre cd over and over from Midnight syndicate or make my own mix of midnight syndicate while building. The thing I don't like in any song for halloween is voices. So many of Nox Arcana has chants, or spells, or whatever. I just skip the song as soon as the voices come in. I think I only found a handful of songs on the first two cds I bought without voices. Grimm tales seems to have quite a few as well. 

Guess i might be sticking with my mix from last year from all of the Midnight syndicate cds. I might be able to throw a few songs from Nox Arcana in there as well. Still not sure on Lustmord Dark places of the earth.


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

@Spiderclimber: my tastes change depending on what it is I'm working on. If I'm writing or sketching I'll listen to Lustmord. If I'm building or just driving around letting my mind drift into either game design or haunt themes I'll listen to Nox Arcana or early Midnight Syndicate. But when it comes to the haunt itself I don't play anything melodic such as the two we're discussing here. I'm all about atmosphere over a "soundtrack" in my haunt. I almost ALWAYS use something like Lustmord or something of my own composition. Lustmord isn't really even music per se but more ambient drone. The idea is to put the visitors at a slight unease versus the "hey I'm part of a horror movie" feeling. So no, unless music actually is part of the scene or set I don't use it.

I don't like the newer Midnight Syndicate stuff because its TOO much piano, too many sound effects, and repetitive melodic themes from older albums. I HATE sound effects that are over powering in music, I prefer to add my own in the scene. I dunno, maybe its because I'm a musician myself I can hear through their ruse, the repeated melodies, etc.

I agree to some extent on some of the vocal tracks from Nox Arcana. I do listen to them from time to time when I'm listening to the album as a whole because it tells a musical story. But to say that pretty much all the tracks have voices is a little over critical. Ever Nox CD has 21 tracks (and I have them all) and typically at most only THREE of the 21 have talking. I think the only exception was Necronomicon which was like every other track or so. But then again Necronomicon is my LEAST favorite of the bunch because it's WAY to epic IMHO to be considered Lovecraftian - feels more dark fantasy. The chants?! I hope you don't mean the chorals that are actually part of the songs. Those by their very definition give the albums their gothic feel more so than ANY Midnight Syndicate album. I LOVE chorals.

Grimm Tales has 3 out of 21 with ANY sort of talking: 1. Fable (the first track ALWAYS has talking to set the tale); 9. Conjuration (are you kidding? this makes a far better witch conjuration than the Macbeth witches. My only complaint is its too short); and 18. Hall of the Witch Queen (which has ONE line of talking at the very beginning and thats it). That's it!

If you're gonna go Lustmord I recommend "Lustmord: Rising 666". But Lustmord is pretty much all dark ambient noise not music which is why I like them. The same is true for Allicorn (I recommend "In Remote Places" and "Tattered". Cellar of Rats used to do game music but his site and his music have since disappeared off the interwebz. The best you can do is I think the soundtrack to the PC game Amazon.com: Scratches Original Soundtrack: Cellar of Rats: MP3 [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@61t66RDkULL.


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Well looks like it's officially out.

Amazon.com: Carnival Arcane: Midnight Syndicate: MP3 [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@61yFBdeysaL

Amazon has a sampling of all the tracks whereas the official site still only has the Freakshow video. Took a listen to each and was impressed. It's definitely a stronger album than their last 3-4 outings. Out of 26 tracks I was disappointed with maybe 5 or 6 total which isn't bad considering the ratio. Most of those were the sound effects only tracks which i'm not a fan of so that's a biased opinion. However two of those were lacking in originality -- While different, track 24 "Lights Out" reminded me a little too much of track 23 "Gruesome Discovery" from "13th Hour"; And track 3 "Welcome to the Carnival" reminds me a lot of something from either "Realm of Shadows" or "Born of the Night", I can't place which at the moment. The rest is pretty rock solid though and at $8 bucks it's a pretty good deal. Will download it tonight.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

We got the email today announcing the official release as well. I'll have to check out the sample tracks on Amazon.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Just listened to the sample tracks on Amazon.com - LOT of fun stuff in that CD for the carnival/circus haunter. Have a listen in particular to the Kiddieland track - the combination of music box instrumentation and children's laughter is eerie.

I hear shades of Danny Elfman in some of the tracks - they must be fans


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## Fetch (May 16, 2008)

Received my pre-ordered disc today, and I'm listening to it right now. Really digging it so far.


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## lot27 (Aug 10, 2011)

I dig Midnight's stuff. I listen to it on the way to the haunt quite a bit. Digging the new CD. Track 12 gets a little too "light" for me. Not too spooky. Gets the mind going for my Halloween masks.


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