Search - Midnight Syndicate :: The 13th Hour

So far, it's Midnight Syndicate's best album (a 7-star maste

Joker | Michigan | 10/04/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What is one of the first things the average person thinks of when they think of Halloween? A haunted house. Truly a staple and enduring symbol of Halloween. I would say most peoples' first choice when shopping for a Halloween CD would be to purchase a CD with a haunted house theme. So when Midnight Syndicate decided it was time to record their own haunted house album, they made sure it was going to be a winner. In my opinion, The 13th Hour is Midnight Syndicate's best album. It is a masterpiece, and it is exactly how a haunted house album should be. Any band in this genre would do well to strive to have their best album be their haunted mansion album, and Midnight Syndicate accomplished this with The 13th Hour. They took their time recording this album and it paid off.



For starters, just look at the album cover, masterfully painted by the late great Keith Parkinson. Look at that house. What a house! I can picture the moonlight shining through those windows and lighting up otherwise dark rooms. I would love to spend a Halloween night in that place! Or maybe I wouldn't! The setting for The 13th Hour is this haunted Victorian mansion of the Haverghast family, the same family that oversaw the abandoned haunted insane asylum on the album Gates Of Delirium. Gates Of Delirium is the prelude and sister album of The 13th Hour. Midnight Syndicate really captured the haunted Victorian mansion atmosphere and feel on The 13th Hour. If you love classic haunted house movies such as The Innocents (1961), The Haunting (1963), The Legend Of Hell House (1973), The Changeling (1980) and Rose Red (2002), you'll love this disc.



The 13th Hour has a light gothic sound and ambience. It has a lot of dramatic and powerful tracks, but they are not overdone. The album's atmosphere is mostly on the quieter side, yet still is powerful in its own way, dramatic, ghostly, haunting, spooky, and elegant. That's how a haunted house album should be, in my opinion. It should have a ghostly/haunting sound suitable for a real ghost story, with some highs (drama), lows (subtlety), and everything in between. Take the track Fallen Grandeur. It has a powerful "gothic" sound and is quite dramatic, but then the next track is Hands Of Fate, where a grandfather clock is ticking, followed by The Drawing Room, which features a very subtle piano playing by itself. Then the next track is Mausoleum d' Haverghast, which is kind of middle-of-the-road. This track is not powerful, but it's not weak or subtle, either.



This album has just about everything you'd envision a haunted mansion having - a grandfather clock, a victrola, a piano, a music box, shaking chandeliers, the sound of footsteps, creaking doors, doors slamming, breathing, ghostly voices, glass shattering, fires burning, the sounds of the night, and much more.



Midnight Syndicate makes the most of their use of the piano on this album. Not only will you hear great piano melodies, but you'll also hear a creepy out-of-tune piano at certain times. The piano can be one creepy instrument.



All the songs on The 13th Hour sound different. There are so many good melodies, too. Midnight Syndicate deliberately doesn't provide a very specific and lengthy "story" inside the liner notes, either. Instead, only a few sentences are written describing what the CD is about because they want you the listener to use your imagination and fill in the blanks. In other words, Midnight Syndicate gives an inch, but the listener can take a mile by using their imagination. A little bit goes a long way. That's the goal of Midnight Syndicate's "Soundtracks For The Imagination" - to picture a movie of your own creation.



The 13th Hour is just plain my style and exactly how I've visualized haunted mansions in my imagination for as long as I can remember, going all the way back to when I was a kid. Another thing I like about The 13th Hour is that you as the listener feel like you're taking a tour of the mansion, like you're right there. The use of subtle sound effects and sounds used to put an accent on the music help make this possible. These sound effects are so clear and so well done that they really provide a sense of realism throughout the CD. The lighter gothic sound and ambience of this album allow you to hear these sound effects very easily. A lot of these sound effects mesh well with the melodies. Your listening experience can be even better if you have good speakers with clear sound, because you'll be able to hear all kinds of subtle sound effects on so many tracks. Another thing -- the transitions from track to track help make you feel like you're going from room to room on your tour of the haunted mansion. This is brilliantly done.



One of the many things I like about this album is the transition from track 2 (Forgotten Path) into track 3 (Time Outside Of Time). The door shuts, then Time Outside Of Time starts playing, which is suitable music for the beginning of a ghost story such as this. Time Outside Of Time is absolutely PERFECT music to start your tour of the mansion. Picture yourself entering the house, shutting the front door behind you, and you're standing motionless in the vestabule, looking around this strange, old, dark, haunted place and you start feeling nervous and creeped out. You're about to start your tour of the house, though nervously and apprehensively.



The last two tracks of the album? Powerful. Over-the-top. A grand finale if there ever was one. Return Of The Ancient Ones is one of the great Midnight Syndicate songs. Immediately following is the final track on the album, the powerful title track The 13th Hour. An outstanding closing to a brilliant album.



I feel that if I ever wanted to record my own haunted Victorian mansion album, I would stop before I even begin because I already have the ultimate haunted Victorian mansion album, The 13th Hour. It can't get any better than this album. I highly recommend this album to anyone who wants a fantastic haunted mansion album. I love each and every track. This album contains my all-time favorite Midnight Syndicate song, "Harvest Of Deceit."



If you buy this album, people will come up to you at your next Halloween party and ask where you got your music and compliment you on it. Play it year round and any time of the day or night. Buy this album and I'm confident that you'll think that it is the best haunted mansion album ever recorded. An off-the-chart 7 stars."