The Dead Matter: Cemetery Gates is the tenth album of the band Midnight Syndicate, released in 2008. The album consists of original music in band's orchestral, gothic, horror soundtrack-style inspired by the themes in the horror film, The Dead Matter.[2][3]
Background and release
In an interview with Fearnet, composer, Edward Douglas, said this about The Dead Matter: Cemetery Gates:
Gavin and I wanted to do a new Midnight Syndicate CD for 2008. It had been three years since The 13th Hour and we were anxious to get back to doing an all-original Syndicate release that wasn’t a movie soundtrack. When we were tossing around ideas for the theme for the new disc we thought, “why not The Dead Matter (2010) movie?" Here we had a movie about vampires, zombies, mysticism, and an Egyptian occult relic... perfect material for a Midnight Syndicate disc. We liked it because, although it gave us familiar ground to work from, it also allowed us to explore new territory and bring back a splash of some fantasy elements reminiscent of our Dungeons & Dragons soundtrack. The bonus track Lost was actually written for the movie and will appear in it.[4]
The album was released and self-distributed into counter-culture music chains like Hot Topic and Halloween retailers like Spirit Halloween, through Entity Productions, one of the largest distributors of Halloween music CDs at the time.[5][6] A music video for the song Dark Legacy was released in March 2010, debuting at the TransWorld Halloween & Attractions Show. The video, filmed in Cleveland's Phantasy Theater, was directed by David Greathouse whose work included music videos for the band, Mushroomhead.[7] The video marked the first time Midnight Syndicate performed live together on stage and featured cameos Mushroomhead band members Jeff Hatrix and "Schmotz".[8]
Reception
The album was named runner-up for Best Horror CD in the 2008 Rondo Awards.[9] Craig Harvey of Movement Magazine compared the minimalistic piano lines on certain tracks to early John Carpenter scores.[2] Tomb Dragomir of Rue Morgue Magazine described it as an "eerie offering of dark soundscapes" adding that "if Midnight Syndicate weren't around at this time of year, I think we would actually have to cancel Halloween."[10]
Track listing
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Length
1.
"Cathedral Ruins"
Edward Douglas
3:03
2.
"Shadowed Grove"
Gavin Goszka
1:02
3.
"Meeting of the Acolytes"
Gavin Goszka
3:19
4.
"The Revenants"
Gavin Goszka
3:26
5.
"Called from Beyond"
Gavin Goszka
3:04
6.
"Nightfall"
Edward Douglas
3:44
7.
"The Hunt"
Edward Douglas
2:56
8.
"Across the Chasm"
Gavin Goszka
1:16
9.
"Cemetery Gates"
Edward Douglas
3:00
10.
"Entering the Crypt"
Gavin Goszka
2:09
11.
"Alchemist's Chamber"
Edward Douglas
2:50
12.
"Tear of Osiris"
Edward Douglas
1:57
13.
"Forging the Scarab"
Gavin Goszka
3:24
14.
"Shadows Descend"
Edward Douglas
3:06
15.
"Inside the Scarab"
Edward Douglas
1:29
16.
"Exodus"
Gavin Goszka
3:46
17.
"Dark Legacy"
Gavin Goszka
3:38
18.
"Lullaby"
Edward Douglas
1:56
19.
"Lost" (Performed by Gavin Goszka)
Gavin Goszka
3:55
20.
"Not Your Saviour" (Performed by Gavin Goszka)
Gavin Goszka
3:13
21.
"Theme to The Dead Matter (A.B.T. Remix)" (Remixed by Gavin Goszka)
