Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering

Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering is the eighteenth album by the by the gothic horror instrumental band, Midnight Syndicate.[1] The album features a mix of re-imagined Christmas carols and original compositions in a style similar to the band's other gothic,paranormal, and Halloween-themed releases.[2][3] Midnight Syndicate founder and composer, Edward Douglas, said it's one of his favorite albums they've ever created.[4]

Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering
Studio album by
Midnight Syndicate
ReleasedSeptember 10, 2015 (September 10, 2015)
GenreChristmas Music, Gothic, Neoclassical dark wave
LabelEntity Productions
ProducerEdward Douglas, Gavin Goszka
Midnight Syndicate chronology
Axe Giant: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(2013)		 Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering
(2015)

Background and album information

In an interview with InPark Magazine a year after the album's release, composer, Edward Douglas said this:

A Christmas album with a Midnight Syndicate twist is something we’d wanted to do for years. The traditions of Christmas as celebrated around the world are seeped in the supernatural and in folk tales passed down from generation to generation. Those stories and traditions were a tremendous source of inspiration for the music on this album. Additionally, the haunting quality to some of the older carols lent themselves well to what we wanted to do. It was extremely important to both Gavin and myself that we be very respectful of the music and the traditions of holidays. I like to think of this album as hauntingly beautiful as opposed to very dark. We have some fun taking a few uptempo tracks down a creepier path but it’s all done carefully so as not to go too far. I think that is one of the reasons this album has appealed to so many different people.[4]

In an interview with Gothic Beauty, Gavin Goszka said the band wanted to do more than take Christmas songs and "redo them in minor keys", adding many of the songs were completely re-imagined and that the band's musical palette had never been more varied.[5]

The album included four original tracks: Night of the Krampus, Little Helpers, Winter Storm, and Christmas at Midnight. The track, Little Helpers featured vocal artist, Dennis Carter, Jr., who previously portrayed, Laughing Denny in the band's Carnival Arcane album.[1][6] The album artwork was created by French illustrator and matte painter, Pascal Casolari.[7]

Reception

Aaron Von Lupton of the horror magazine, Rue Morgue, called the album's darkness "more subtle and genuine" than he typically saw when horror was mixed with a Christmas setting, adding that the holiday music was "redone with Midnight Syndicate's unique stamp, reflecting beauty, fantasy, and the supernatural."[3] On his America's Most Haunted website, Blogcritics founder, Eric Olsen praised the album's roots in the Victorian era tradition of telling ghost stories during Christmas.[8] Justin Dark of the horror website, Dread Central called the album "a creepy and dark tribute to (Christmas)" and a "masterful collection of holiday spooky," while lamenting that some of the original songs got lost in their new "comprehensive" rearrangements.[2] Several horror blog sites like Mr. Fright's and Gross Movie Reviews as well as haunted house-related YouTuber page, DEAD with Dave, praised the album's appeal to fans of horror[9][10][11] while Sue Granquist of the fantasy and role-playing game-related online publication, Black Gate Magazine, called the album "charmingly haunting."[12] While giving the album a "7 out of 10," Outburn Music Magazine's Kevin Stewart-Panko added "if you want to put a dampened pallor on holiday cheer, here's some ammunition."[13]

Other appearances

In 2017, Edward Douglas' version of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy was featured in the SyFy television series, Happy! in the episode When Christmas Was Christmas.[14]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)ArrangementLength
1."Christmas Overture"VariousEdward Douglas2:18
2."Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyEdward Douglas3:38
3."Carol of the Bells"Mykola LeontovychGavin Goszka2:54
4."Night of the Krampus"Edward DouglasEdward Douglas3:51
5."Angels We Have Heard on High"18th century FrenchGavin Goszka3:40
6."Greensleeves"16th century EnglishEdward Douglas3:12
7."Up On the Housetop"Benjamin HanbyGavin Goszka2:38
8."God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"16th century EnglishEdward Douglas4:00
9."Coventry Carol"16th century EnglishGavin Goszka2:34
10."Little Helpers"Edward DouglasEdward Douglas2:15
11."Sing We Now of Christmas"15th century FrenchGavin Goszka3:04
12."Winter Storm"Gavin GoszkaGavin Goszka3:14
13."Into the Stillness"19th century AustrianGavin Goszka1:46
14."The Parade of the Tin Soldiers"Leon JesselGavin Goszka3:47
15."Everywhere, Everywhere, Christmas Tonight"Philips Brooks, Lewis RednerEdward Douglas1:47
16."Christmas at Midnight"Edward DouglasEdward Douglas3:33

Personnel
  • Edward Douglas – composer
  • Gavin Goszka – composer
  • Dennis Carter, Jr. - voice actor on Little Helpers

Production
  • Producers – Edward Douglas, Gavin Goszka
  • Mastering - Gavin Goszka
  • Cover art - Pascal Casolari
  • Design - Brainstorm Design Group[1]
  • Band Photography - Steven Franczek
  • Band Photography Design - Topher Adam
gollark: Not instantly. It's still O(n) due to the shuffle sadly.
gollark: See, there's a practical application for quantum immortality.
gollark: Every time you need to use the timeline hearing cuboid, pick an answer randomly and destroy any universe where the answer turns out to have been wrong.
gollark: Technically, a universe destroying cuboid and timeline hearing cuboid are functionally equivalent.
gollark: That's nice.

References
  1. Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering - Midnight Syndicate (2015, CD) on Discogs
  2. "Midnight Syndicate: Christmas A Ghostly Gathering", Justin Dark, Dread Central, Sept. 30, 2015
  3. Aaron Von Lupton, "We Scary Gentlemen", Rue Morgue Magazine (Toronto, ON), Issue 162, Pg. 59
  4. "Holiday Cheer... and Fear" Martin Palicki, InPark Magazine, December 1, 2016
  5. Emily Bielby, "Midnight Syndicate" (featured interview), Gothic Beauty Magazine (Portland, OR), Issue 48, Pg. 48-54
  6. Carnival Arcane - Midnight Syndicate (2011, CD)
  7. Pascal Casolari official site (English version)
  8. "Midnight Syndicate Brings Spooky Sensibility to Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering" Eric Olsen, America's Most Haunted, December 2, 2015
  9. "Review: Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering" Justin Lewis, Mr. Frights, September 27, 2015
  10. "Midnight Syndicate Gets a Jump on the Holiday Season with their New Creepy Soundtrack" Tim Gross, Gross Movie Reviews, September 27, 2015
  11. "Review of Midnight Syndicate's Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering" Dave Danyankin, DEAD with Dave, December 13, 2015
  12. "Christmas at Beetlejuice's House - Midnight Syndicate Does It Again Sue Granquist, Black Gate Magazine, October 8, 2015
  13. Keven-Steward Panko, "Music Review: Midnight Syndicate Christmas A Ghostly Gathering", Outburn, Issue 82, Pg. 63
  14. When Christmas Was Christmas - Happy! on IMDb
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