Staff Reviews

The Poisoned Glass - 10 Swords

Review by Lee Adcock

Plunges the listener into a pitch-black vacuum»

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After the demise of Burning Witch in 1998 and going their separate ways, Dahlquist and Edgy59 kept in touch, occasionally making overtures towards working together and knowing that they would when it felt natural. The Poisoned Glass started with the song 'Silent Vigil' a twelve-tone progression Dahlquist had originally intended as a tonal bass solo. After experimenting, he felt that the resulting sound was heavier, more despondent and unforgiving than any of his existing projects and sent the rough mix to Edgy, who understood immediately that this music represented perfectly both voices as a unit. In spite of seemingly limiting instrumentation The Poisoned Glass is far from minimalist; 'the atmosphere is bleak yet tonally dense, a virtual sonic attic- warm but without air, breathless.' It came naturally, and with that the duo formed and set out to record as The Poisoned Glass. Last November they unveiled a short film (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp6Pk_h4mo4&feature=youtu.be) which features excerpts from The Poisoned Glass' spring 2016 album, '10 Swords'. The film entitled 'The Final Act of Geng Yaoting', by artist Richard Forbes-Hamilton, uses a mixture of oil painting and digital animation to tell a terrifying tale of the process between dreaming and dying; the conscious and unconscious. Made ever more chilling with Dahlquist's droning detuned bass, siren-like organ and Edgy59's unbridled and jarring tenor, the film offers sonic snippets of new The Poisoned Glass songs 'Low Spirits', 'Toil and Trouble' and 'Plume Veil'. CD and LP feature cover artwork by Jeff Sandridge.
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