Poisoned Dreams

The Unquiet Void | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 1, 2004)
• Original Release Date: December 1, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Middle Pillar Presents
• ASIN: B0006ULQQG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #657,854 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Outburn Magazine

"The Unquiet Void takes you to a whole other world, sometimes beautiful, sometimes frightening, but always compelling."

Product Description

Poisoned Dreams is the third album from The Unquiet Void. Composer Jason Wallach has crafted an original score based upon the works of internationally renowned, cult horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, specifically the Cthulhu Mythos. Here, Wallach provides an instrumental accompaniment to the other-worldy aspect of Lovecraft’s disturbing prose. Pieces are inspired by the stories: Dagon, The Call of Cthulhu, and The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Tribal, ritualistic, dark ambient - Poisoned Dreams are nightmares given digital form.

Sinister sounds scratch in the dark as the album opens with "A Troubled, Dream-Infested Slumber." A windy rainstorm parts to reveal eerie synths and percussive footfalls into the "Cycopean Monolith." As the album progresses different moods of mystery, wonder and terror unfold. The Ancient Gods are summoned by the chants of "The Esoteric Order", a collaboration with Bryin Dall (A Murder of Angels, Loretta’s Doll, Thee Majesty). "We Shall Dive Down Through Black Abysses" is a romantic journey through the ethereal soup of the dark subconscious. Finally all nightmares are manifested in "R’lyeh Rerisen."

Poisoned Dreams is the soundtrack H.P. Lovecraft would’ve written.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ethereal, Dark Ambient and Experimental, February 25, 2005

By 

M. Salazar (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poisoned Dreams (Audio CD)

Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's "Shadow Over Innsmouth" and the film "Dagon," The Unquiet Void's "Poisoned Dreams" CD album offers its interpretation to the peculiarly Lovecraftian fear of being consumed by the mysterious depths of the sea. Released under the specialty label Middle Pillar Presents, whose slogan is "Ethereal, Dark Ambient and Experimental," The Unquiet Void tackles the thematic and sonic challenge creating a listenable, albeit very specific vision meditation on its namesake. The Unquiet Void utilizes a rich array of samples combined with a driving, ambient musical story or narrative. It takes the form of a listener's journey through themes that would be familiar to those already conversant with the intertwining Lovecraftian concepts of transformation/annihilation. Taken in sequence, the CD album consists of eight tracks ranging from five to almost fifteen minutes in length, and captures the mood without getting too lost in its own self-referential mythology.

Early in the second track, entitled "Cyclopean Monolith," you set forth with a dreamy and nightmarish approach to the mythic City of R'lyeh. The third track, Necronomicon," is named after the book that launched a thousand songs and films-but of all the tracks this one feels the most out of place when considering the album as a whole. It has its merits as a standalone track, but threatens to break the flow. "Return to Innsmouth" is where the story seems to regain its syndactyly footing and draws the listener in with a similar pulse to the previous track, except it gradually builds in complexity with a sonic pay-off that seems to lead somewhere. The next track, called "The Esoteric Order," provides a familiar chanting refrain, repeated as a counter-point to the thumping of a drum, which is steady and relentless. (As the song progresses, it's easy to imagine a coven of cultists communing with the master of R'lyeh.) It branches directly to the aptly titled "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." This sixth track is the only piece named after an actual H.P. Lovecraft story and culminates with a memorable, almost-angelic, but also very effective and subtle use of choral sampling. "We Shall Go Down Through Black Abysses" is my favorite and is easily the most cinematic in scope, comparing well against some of the better television and film themes. Finally, there is "R'lyeh Risen." Keening and warbling in its first few minutes, it builds with an almost military march climax, toward a steady dissolution of...Everything!

This album is for those who appreciate and enjoy the Cthulhu Mythos, not because it is "a spooky soundtrack," but rather because it offers an aural reminder of why H.P. Lovecraft's stories stood the test of time and how his ideas continue to offer a rich vein of ideas.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Dark Ambient Album!, September 7, 2005

By 

Third (Whitby, ON Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poisoned Dreams (Audio CD)

I heard about this album in a horror magazine, and being a fan of Lovecraft's work, I had to get it. I was NOT dissapointed. The album is almost entirely instrumental, and a must-have for any fans of the genre.

1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poisoned Dreams~ The Unquiet Void, June 29, 2005

By 

Retired - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Poisoned Dreams (Audio CD)

The content of this cd does not relate to music in any manner.

What it does have is over 70 minutes of noise.

If sound sampling of this cd would have been offered I would not have considered it.