by Paula R. Stiles

read it on innsmouthfreepress.com

The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets. (2001) Spaceship Zero: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Vancouver: Divine Industries, Inc. $8.99

Spaceship Zero is a soundtrack album for the RPG game of the same name. Put out in 2001 by a Lovecraft/Mythos rock group operating out of Chiliwack, B.C. since 1992, The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, the album is a bouncy tribute to ’50s and ’60s space-opera film and television. It doesn’t take itself even remotely seriously and comes across like Buck Rogers on crack. Tracks like the mostly-instrumental title theme, “Spaceship Zero”, and “Twenty Minutes of [Oxygen]” are unabashed space opera of the kind you’d find in early Robert Heinlein. The instrumental “Oblivion” could have come straight out of Logan’s Run and sounds a bit like Vangelis. Songs like “Power Up” have a more anime/superhero flavor by way of Power Rangers, while tunes like “Frogstar” and “Requiem for a Clone Hunter” spoof Star Wars and Flash Gordon. “The Math Song” is about math because “You got a brain/and nobody really needs another love song.”

Though the song titles indicate a rather less Lovecraft-influenced album than many of the group’s other 15 cassettes and CDs (like Cthulhu Strikes Back from 1995, or their latest, The Shadow Out of Tim from 2007), Spaceship Zero does still include tracks like the bouncy classic “The Innsmouth Look” (which has been doing the rounds on Twitter in the past week or so) and “Sounds of Tindalos”. “The Innsmouth Look” is about a guy who goes on a date-gone-bad on the beach with a girl from Innsmouth: “One glance is all it took/She gave me the Innsmouth Look.” Or it would be bad if the narrator weren’t already acquainted with “Father Dagon”. So, I guess that makes her the perfect date for him. “Sounds of Tindalos” (about the hounds of Tindalos, who can appear out of corners) appears to be from the viewpoint of creatures of the outer darkness dragging down a helpless victim to insanity, or maybe the staff of the psych hospital asking said victim what he’s seeing: “Struggle not/to be free/Tell us all/what you see.”

“The Chosen One” sounds like road music for the Winchester Brothers as they speed their way through a Mythos universe (It samples “The Innsmouth Look” at the beginning), though the album predates Supernatural by four years.

Spaceship Zero seems to exist in an odd place, genre-wise. I’ve seen it variously described as “blues” (it’s not), “rock”, “punk rock”, “horror punk”, “geek rock”, “powerpop” and “nerd rock”. You could argue for the last category, if you consider anything with lots of sound effects and scifi dialogue in it “nerd rock”, too. But this feels more like hard rock of the garage-band variety that sometimes (”The Innsmouth Look” with its pounding bass line) tips over into metal along the lines of bands like Stabbing Westward. If you like Metallica and don’t mind something somewhat quieter, this could be up your alley. If you’re into rock and Mythos, you need to check this band out.

Interested in purchasing this CD? You can listen to it here or you can buy Spaceship Zero from Amazon.com.

Reviewed by Grim Blogger

This past week, I’ve been listening to The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets’ newest album, “The Shadow Out of Tim” (no, not a spelling error). This jaunty CD from a Lovecraftian band loosely follows the themes of HPL’s “The Shadow Out of Time,” mixing in a few of his other creations like Nyarlathotep for good measure. Generally, explicitly Lovecraftian music is quite rare, and the Thickets take this a step further by cultivating a unique style detached from the expected dark, ambient, eerie hymnals. In fact, clarifying said style is no easy task, though they might best be called punk rock with a very specific focus on musically rendering the best of HP Lovecraft.

Pleasantly, at least to this listener, the Thickets also seem to exhibit a fair amount of influence from classic rock. Undoubtedly, they are under the tow of the first Lovecraftian band to originate in the murky psychedelic era of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the group which called itself HP Lovecraft. However, it must be said this predecessor actually produced only a few songs specifically based on the written work of the Old Gent from Providence. Fortunately, the Hillside Thickets greatly outdo the earlier band in this regard, even if they bear a faint stamp of their style. The Canadian musicians released this latest album on June 21st, 2007, and it bears a distinct, yet improved resemblance to earlier releases like “Let Sleeping Gods Lie” and “The Great Old Ones.”

One of the Thickets’ greatest skills is arguably the swift incorporation of catchy background melodies and experimental sounds into a greater set of lyrics, which follows the story in each song (and, in this case, across the whole CD). On “The Shadow Out of Tim,” this is most evident in the tracks “Blackout,” “Return to Melanesia,” “Cultists on Board,” “and “Ride the Flying Polyp.” Yet, in a few instances, some might find the same shrieking harmonics, whistles, and experimental grindings in these pieces a bit overwhelming, whereas others will lap them up excitedly.

Even through an artsy cacophony punctuating some of the songs, the listener will find the adept storytelling skills of the Thickets at work. The changes in rhythm and pitch are usually spot on with the lyrics, effectively conveying appropriate shifts in mood, imagery, and the course of the story. As anyone familiar with HPL will know, this tale involves the Great Race of Yith reaching [forward] through time to temporarily exchange minds with the hapless narrator. While the Thickets retelling veers somewhat from the original text, it still captures the essential themes of cosmic awe and overwhelming fright Lovecraft himself sought to present in the story. This is, perhaps, best summarized in the track “Some Things Man was Not Meant to Know.” This, above all else, is the greatest merit of the Thickets here. After playing through the fifteen tracks on the CD, one feels as though the roller coaster ride has come full circle, and the price of admission satisfied.

As alluded to above, this is not for everyone. Some darker souls will lament the lack of a traditional Gothic slow, ambient style. Others unappreciative of punk or classic rock may similarly find themselves dissatisfied. Still, beyond personal musical preferences, for the Lovecraftian admirer there is almost certain to be a treasure trove of interesting gems lurking in this album. It is, with few exceptions, worthy of placement in the halls of both cosmic horror and tasteful music.

Reviewed by Gary Hill

There�s really something great about music that can be both everyday listening and specially suited for getting you in the Halloween spirit � such is The Shadow Out of Tim. The latest release from The Darkest of The Hillside Thickets, the bulk of this � as is most of the group�s material is inspired by the works of horror literary legend H. P. Lovecraft. In fact, so complete is the connection that this group was given a whole chapter of my book The Strange Sound of Cthulhu � Music Inspired by the Writings of H. P. Lovecraft. The cover, title and a lot of the lyrical content on this disc are directly related to that author.

There was a break of quite a few years between the group�s last release and this one. While that might have been hard to take for their fans (I count myself among those), it really paid off. The sound on this album is much more accessible and polished than that on any of the other releases. They still manage to maintain all the elements that fans have grown accustomed to � darkly humorous lyrics, punk meets hard rock music, a great spirit of fun and adventure � and, of course, the H. P. Lovecraft connection. It�s just that this time around they�ve polished off a few of the rougher edges. The disc shows a higher level of songwriting and instrumental (not to mention vocal) proficiency. Both of these things go a long way towards making this not only their best release, but the most likely to attract a more mainstream fan base. Mind you, this is nowhere near the music you�re likely to hear on the radio (thank god), but it�s certainly requires less of a learning curve than their other music.

If you have a spirit of adventure when it comes to music, be sure to check this one out. If you are a fan of punk and quirky hard rock this also comes highly recommended. It�s a given that all fans of H. P. Lovecraft will want to pick this up immediately. The truth is, though, if you�ve ever wanted to take a chance on something that�s definitely outside of the box, but also entertaining, I can�t think of a better place to turn.

5/5

The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets � The Shadow Out of Tim
By Gary Hill�(review link)�
Overall Review

I�ve been a fan of The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets for years. Their music is usually based around H. P. Lovecraft�s mythos and that has endeared them to me. In fact, they earned a whole chapter in my book. Well, this is the latest installment from the group � after quite a few years with no new recordings. The time away has definitely paid off as this is their best album and has a more polished sound that works well to making it more accessible. The thing is, they�ve achieved that without the loss of any of their quirkiness or integrity. The cover is incredible, with its total homage to the paperback H. P. L. books. The story is a modern retelling of the story The Shadow Out of Time � with the title derived from the main character in TDOTHT�s version � Tim.

(more…)

The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets
�The Shadow Out of Tim�
Divine Industries
A concept album! An amazing collection of joyously whacko rock from another new favourite Vancouver band for all of us to collapse before, weeping in abject joy. It would seem as if the deepest boroughs of the Lower Mainland (namely Abbotsford) continue to show Vancouverites how thoughtful, whimsical, and powerful prog-pop can be, and few Canadian bands can stand up to The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets when it comes to that stuff. The album�s theme and concept deals with an unwitting marine biologist raising Lovecraftian horrors from the blackened depths of the sea�I think. The research ship gets hijacked by cultists off the coast of New Zealand, people die horribly, minds are lost to the madness of the interstellar gulfs, yeti appear; all sorts of good shit if you ever read Clark Ashton Smith fantasies while you played Greenslade in the background. There�s even a song of Cthulhu mythos (�Nyarlathotep,� of course) sung in I�m-not-kidding Middle Egyptian! Jesus. A handy glossary of unfamiliar terms caps off the lyric sheet; helpful, these Thickets. Just when I think there�s nothing left in rock, I get reawakened and hope burns anew. And I haven�t even started in on these guys� unparalleled live show. Enjoy this album.
-Ferdy Belland

Aug 14 2007
Tom Harrison, reviewer
The H.P. Lovecraft-obsessed Vancouver band unleashes another concept record, this one vaguely about a sea captain and mind control involving aliens and sea creatures. Where Lovecraft’s elegant writing can also be labyrinthine and opaque, this album is, by Thickets’ past standards, much simpler. If I didn’t buy into the previous albums it was because there was too much going on. The result wasn’t cohesive. Ambitious, maybe. By reverting to a more direct hard rock, the ideas are clearer and the impact more lasting. Refer to “No Way.” Their best album. B-