''The 13th Hour'' is the sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Midnight Syndicate Midnight Syndicate is an American musical duo that has been working primarily in the genre of neoclassical dark ambient music since 1997 and is based in Chardon, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. The band refers to their CDs as "soundtracks for the ...

, released June 7, 2005, by Entity Productions.Midnight Syndicate - The 13th Hour (2005, CD) on Discogs
/ref> The album took listeners on a journey through a haunted

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

through the blend of symphonic

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

instrumental music and

-inspired soundscape the band had become known for.Heather Adler "Haunted Harmonies", ''

Rue Morgue Magazine ''Rue Morgue'' is a multinational magazine devoted to coverage of horror fiction. Its content comprises news, reviews, commentary, interviews, and event coverage. Its journalistic span encompasses films, books, comic books, video games, and ot ...

'' (Toronto, ON), October, 2005, Pg. 131 Since its release, it has become one of the band's most popular titles,So Much Going On It's Scary
News Herald, Mark Meszoros, September 19, 2021, Pg. D6-D7 winning awards in the gaming industry and inspiring the prequel-themed album, ''

Bloodlines Bloodline most commonly refers to heredity. Bloodline, bloodlines, blood line or blood lines may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Bloodlines (comics), ''Bloodlines'' (comics), a 1993 DC Comics crossover * ''Colossus: Blood ...

'', in 2021.Jeff Szpirglas, "Bloodlines", ''

'' (Toronto, ON), September 2021, Pg. 81.

Background

In a 2005 interview, composer Gavin Goszka said this of the album:

We feel that ''The 13th Hour'' is definitely our best work to date, both musically as well as atmospherically. The
sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditi ...
were based on real-life stories of paranormal experiences ... the (album) is our audio interpretation of an actual haunted house.

Both Goszka and Edward Douglas also credit their love of

ghost stories A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...

, horror movies, and their studio (a fully restored

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

home) as further inspiration for the album. Douglas mentioned that some of the soundscape on the album was inspired by a presentation George Lutz gave describing his experiences in the house that became the basis for the book, ''

The Amityville Horror ''The Amityville Horror'' is a book by American author Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released from 1979 onward. The book is based on the claims of paranormal experiences by the Lutz family, b ...

''. The album is set in the personal residence of the doctor who created Haverghast Asylum, a fictitious turn-of-the-century haunted mental institution first introduced on the band's 2001 release, '' Gates of Delirium''.Bernard Van Isacker "Reviews: ''The 13th Hour''", ''Side-Line Music Magazine'' (Bruxelles, Belgium), September 2005, Issue 52, Pg. 54

Album Information and Release

The cover artwork was created by

fantasy artist Fantastic art is a broad and loosely defined art genre. It is not restricted to a specific school of artists, geographical location or historical period. It can be characterised by subject matter – which portrays non-realistic, mystical, myt ...

Keith Parkinson Keith A. Parkinson (October 22, 1958 – October 26, 2005) was an American fantasy artist and illustrator known for book covers and artwork for games such as ''EverQuest'', ''Guardians'', ''Magic: The Gathering'', and '' Vanguard: Saga of Heroes ...

. The album featured vocal effects by Lily Lane of the band, Lazy Lane as the character, Madeline Haverghast. Douglas called Lily's vocal performance "perfect" adding "she was so critical to (the album)." The track ''Footsteps in the Dust'' featured Douglas' 2-year-old daughter.April Helms "Still Serving Up Spooky Sounds After Eight Years", '' Record Courier (Ohio)'' (Kent, OH), October 5, 2005, Pg. 33-34 The album was released through Entity Productions and self-distributed nationally through chains like Spencer Gifts and Hot Topic, as well as in

costume shop A costume shop is a space where costumes for theatrical or film productions are designed, built, and stored for the company or production. Costume designers, builders, seamstresses, and stitchers work in costume shops. The shops themselves can v ...

s, game stores, and

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

-merchandise retailers like Spirit Halloween The band held a press preview at the purportedly haunted Agora Theater and Ballroom followed by a release party at the Phantasy Nite Club where a psychic, and haunted house actors entertained guests followed by performances by the bands Lazy Lane, Filament 38, and State of Being.

Reception

Belgium's ''Side Line Magazine'' praised how the soundscape elements took the album further than typical

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s. ''

Outburn ''Outburn'' is a print magazine and online publication focusing on alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock, indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zeala ...

'', ''Movement'', and ''

''s called it the band's best work to date with ''

'' and '' Rue Morgue'' adding that the band had "revolutionized and redefined the

horror music genre." ''The 13th Hour'' album won ''Best Gaming Accessory'' at the 32nd Origins Awards presented by the Academy of Adventure Game Art & Design. It marked the first time a music album had won an Origins Award.The 32nd Origins Awards winners
/ref> In 2006, ''The 13th Hour'' also became the first music CD to win an award (Silver for ''Best Aid or Accessory'') at the ENnies, a fan-based annual award show for

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

publishers and products.2006 ENnie Award Noms and Winners
/ref>

Post-Release

In 2021, Midnight Syndicate created a prequel to ''The 13th Hour'' entitled, ''

''. Designed to be listened to first and segued into ''Mansion in the Mist'', ''Bloodlines'' expands upon the backstory of the Haverghast family and the events that transpired before the story in ''The 13th Hour'' begins.Midnight Syndicate returns to HalloWeekends with plenty of new music in store

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

, Anne Nickoloff, September 28, 2021

Track listing

Personnel

*Edward Douglas –

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

*Gavin Goszka –

*Lily Lane -

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

''Madeline Haverghast'' *David Jacobs -

*Greg Ballato -

*Mary Kate Douglas -

''Anastasia Haverghast''

Production

*Producers – Edward Douglas, Gavin Goszka *Mixing and Engineering - Edward Douglas, Gavin Goszka *Mastering – Gavin Goszka *Artwork - Keith Parkinson *Photography - Anthony Gray *Text (story in packaging) - Patrick Kapera

Song Information

The song, ''Hand in Hand Again'' was written in 1919 by

Richard A. Whiting Richard Armstrong Whiting (November 12, 1891 – February 19, 1938) was an American composer of popular songs, including the standards "Hooray for Hollywood", "Ain't We Got Fun?" and "On the Good Ship Lollipop". He also wrote lyrics occasiona ...

and

Raymond B. Egan Raymond Blanning Egan (November 14, 1890 – October 13, 1952) was a Canadian-American songwriter of popular music. Many of his songs have appeared in films and musical theatre. He often collaborated with composer Richard A. Whiting. Early life ...

as an answer song to their hugely popular " Till We Meet Again" from 1918.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:13th Hour, The 2005 albums ENnies winners Midnight Syndicate albums Origins Award winners Instrumental albums Halloween albums Classical crossover albums