Sunseth Midnight

Sunseth Midnight came out in the town of Sao Paulo (Brasil) in May 2003 aiming to explore their own wide musical versatility as well the Gothic style. Acclaimed by the specialized press as one of the precursors of the Brazilian Glam Gothic Rock - such worldwide famous style lead by names as HIM and The 69 Eyes -, the band mixes Gothic with several styles, such as Hard Rock/Glam, Doom, Industrial/Synthpop, 80's Pop and Metal. The name Sunseth Midnight, also symbolized by SS00 (SS + zero zero), is a pun made by the words Sunset and the Egyptian god Seth, completed by Midnight. As Sunset as Midnight are clear allusions to the nightlife and the entire dark, mysterious and charming atmosphere it inspires. Yet Seth, according to the Egyptian belief, is the god of chaos, mayhem, storms, wind and desert. "Seth is a controversial and contrasting god, although is captivating and enigmatic at the same time", states the guitar player and keyboardist Ricardo Campos. "In full view, he may be the god from that culture who mostly resembles the human beings and the transition between good and evil as well as the freewill carried by mankind. Besides that, Seth despised by some and worshipped by others is the most Gothic of the gods. About the name of the band, the reference to the Egyptian religion is quite obvious and it was chosen due to our interest in it and Seth's traits, as well as the perfect combination and the pun made by the words Sunset and Midnight. The word Sunseth is also strong because of the link between Seth and Ra - the sun god -, on the night journeys at the Solar Barqe throughout the underworld. Seth is the counterbalance to the good side of the Egyptian Universe, generating the harmony, such characteristic which we try to achieve through our wide sound variety", explain the guitar player. Yet in 2003, the band wrote eleven songs and soon got the attention of the Brazilian label Hellion Records. The partnership was set, the pre-production has started and, later, the production of the album "Sun Seth", in charge of Ricardo Campos, Theo Vieira and the renowned producer Beto Carezzato, owner of Carbonos Studio and responsible for many albums of the main Brazilian artists in the last two decades. The drums, bass, guitar and keyboards recording sessions have happened at Sunseth Boulevard Studios, while vocal sessions, and also the mixing and mastering happened at Carbonos Studio, by Beto Carezzato. The result was an album with a clear sound quality, achieved by using the best technology available, which shows the moods of the fourteen features songs with high quality. "The recordings took a long time, but we've been extremely detail-oriented concerning each song individually as well as the individual performances of each musician. Firstly the mastering had been planned to happen overseas, however the high-quality structure offered by Carbonos Studio along with the talented producer Beto and the surprising result of the mixing, ended up showing us the best option", points out Campos. "Sun Seth" songs show the band enhancing their main influences and exploring them through captivating, dark, blue and thrilling waves, besides arrangements, which are from orchestrations to vintage organs and modern synthesizers. Another catchy aspect about the diversity of the band is in the contrasting duet between the low voice of Roger Lombardi and the mid-melodic-screamy voice of the keyboardist and guitar player Theo Vieira, responsible for all backing vocals on the album and the main vocal lines on the songs "Bleed Me" and "Loneliness". These two songs still feature guttural vocals by Ricardo Campos, which leads the band to a further level of versatility. "The diversity on the songs, arrangements and vocals are definite aspects on Sunseth Midnight. The Gothic style lets us to do so and we've decided to do it the way we could value the interaction of the individual characteristics of each musician. We let the inspiration and creativity flow more than preconceived and limited standards", says Campos. In "Sun Seth" the listener is involved, during over sixty-four minutes, by the straight and captivating melodies of "Stop Haunting Me", "The Night's Still Young", "Dance With The Fire", the dark, slow-tempo and heavy side of "The Bat" and "Nosferatu", the a melancholy of "Just An Illusion" and "A Good Carrousel", the versatility of "Bleed Me" and "Loneliness", the 80's aura of "Burning The Night For You", "Where I Belong" and "(She's Not) Innocent", besides the epic and majestic atmosphere of "Sun Seth", which entitles the album. The lyrical contents of the songs show the nightlife, disillusions, sadness, love, sex, lust and irony. Despite the band's name, the Egyptian mythology is not explored in all lyrics, but especially on the track "Sun Seth". In terms of graphic design, the cover illustration is work done exclusively for Sunseth Midnight by the worldwide renowned Italian artist Alessandro Bavari, whose work has been exhibited at important galleries in France, Italy, England, Finland and other countries, besides having worked with bands such as Tea Party, DJ Sensei, Monumentum, Janus, Dee-Vano and Eros Ramazzotti. The subject is the free interpretation of the artist on the theme "Sun Seth", explored on the title-track. However the inner sleeve and graphic conception were in charge of the experienced Rodrigo Cruz, one of the main Brazilian artists who has worked with Metal bands, including albums such as "Ritual" and "Reason" (both of Shaaman), "Acid Rain" (Angra), "Waiting For The Dawn" (Kotipelto), "Screams Of Ice" (Delpht), "Reality In Chaos" (Heavenfalls) and the project William Shakespeares Hamlet. Cruz was also responsible for the front cover and layout of the digipack version of "Sun Seth" - a 1000-copies special limited release. After the release of "Sun Seth", the line-up changed due to the Ricardo Batalha's impossibility to keep playing the drums for medical reasons and musical differences with Roger Lombardi. Besides, the band decided to add a second guitar player, and the place was filled by Theo Vieira, keyboardist/singer. After a short time, Sunseth Midnight stabilized its line up with the singer Jair Saez, the keyboardist Victor Visval and the drummer Lou Melt. "During the promotion of the album we had to go through changes, but by the other hand, this new line up is excellent and gets to reflect emotion of our songs in a unique way. Jair, Victor and Lou are excellent musicians and fit right away. This new version of the band is kicking ass in the 'Sun Seth' tour and, unquestionably, will shine in our next studio album, which we’re already working in", says Campos. 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