Kellyannl

A Great Horror Soundscape, July 16 2004

I wanted a background CD for the Halloween season and ordered this after some research into the subject. It was certainly what I was looking for.

Midnight Syndicate specializes in musical gothic horror soundscapes heralding back in tone to the classic locales of Victorian England and Colonial American Hudson Valley. Think Stoker, Poe and Irving (if you're the type inclined to think the Headless Horseman wasn't Brom Bones), with a good dash of Lovecraft thrown in. This, their first horror disk, centers around an ominous tower overlooking a coastal cliff.

What will strike you at first is the perfect buildup. At first you get a sense that it's still daytime, but that pea-soup kind of… Read more

The story deepens., Jun 24 2004

SIGN continues as Tsukasa's situation is further explored and we get character studies of Mimiru and Bear - two of the three people, along with Subaru, who will ultimately be closest to him throughout his ordeal.

As this volume begins, a distraught Mimiru - who of course has no way of knowing yet that Subaru means Tsukasa no harm - is desperate enough to ask Sora to help break him out. This he does in outrageous fashion, though not without a run in with Subaru's friend Crim. Considering that Sora's game strategy offends Crim's sense of chivalry and Sora is more than a little annoyed at being fought to a draw, it's pretty much loathing at first sight for the two - beginning a rivalry… Read more

A dramatic ending, May 15 2004

A triumphant victory - and a shattering tragedy - mark the emotionally charged final volume of SIGN.

The storyline can be roughly sectioned into three parts. In the first, the older party members consult with Helba to try to develop a strategy to finally defeat The Voice. Their personal subplots are wrapped up as - among other things - B.T. seems to have finally realized she's been overlooking another good man while she's been futiley setting her cap for Crim, and Bear makes Tsukasa a touching if somewhat expected offer regarding the real world.

The second involves the final physical battles of the series as the party faces Tsukasa's Guardian - losing their best fighter right out of… Read more