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Album Details

• Artist: The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets
• Album: Let Sleeping Gods Lie
• Label: Divine Industries
• Year of Release: 2001
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: gwhill on 2013-03-18

An unusual concept, this collection of insanity from Darkest of the Hillside Thickets was assembled for use with a new version of the Call of Cthulhu role playing game. In keeping with that concept, the back cover actually includes rules on how game play is changed by the playing of various songs. This disc includes cuts from all of the band's previous albums. This really would make a great introduction to the band as it includes some of their strongest material. Unfortunately, though, it was a limited edition release. That makes it hard to find.

A crunch burst starts “A Thousand Fists,” and as the thundering melody begins one can picture a thousand fists rising into the air. This is a very well-produced and fun hard-edged cut that is full of energy. A false ending gives way to a cool instrumental break that feels a bit like The Dead Kennedys. Then a completely new melody, again in the vein of the DK's, emerges. The familiar chorus returns to end the cut. A guitar riff that feels like someone screaming out of fear starts “Colour Me Green” off, and as the cut continues it is in a frantic metal mode that really is quite effective. It has a punk oriented chorus and a great feedback dominated break.

Bells and metallic tones begin “Goin' Down To Dunwich,” after movie sound bites. The cut seems to combine metal and punkish formats with processed vocals. Sound effects add to the mayhem, and one break sets a very strong mood.  A driving bass line begins “Shoggoth’s Away,” a piece which is mostly metallic. The song features sound clips from a famous film. “Yig Snake Daddy” is based on a rock and roll sort of structure with metal stylings. The ending to this cut is unusual. One could call it "the ending that just won’t end.”

A classic rock and roll sounding riff begins “Please God No,” then a punky sort of melody (quite Ramonesish) takes over. This one, despite the title, is fun and bouncy. Drums are the intro on “Six Gun Gorgon Dynamo” and with an echoed "whew", we're off on a frantic high-engery ride. It has some killer guitar textures and is oh-so fast. Hard-edged, fast-paced and driving, “The Innsmouth Look” rocks out quite well. The humorous Lovecraftian lyrics are great. The bridge on this one is quirky and fun and features the lyrics, "Obed was a sailor /  He sailed the 7 seas / He made love to the fish / He made love to the fishies."

Beginning with a bass line that feels a lot like early Alice Cooper, “Sounds of Tindalos” is quirky yet accessible. Not many bands can pull that combination off. It gets quite punky at times and features a very tasty guitar solo. Starting with the sounds of a car running off and an ending of another song, “The Chosen One” is quite quirky and driving. It shifts gear later to a more raw and punky segment. Chanting and screaming of "Yog Sothoth" (the title of the piece) over a mid-tempo punky sort of jam is what makes up the majority of the next one. The jam that ensues has a classic punk sound that feels like so many of the punk groups who drew inspiration from the '50s/early '60s elements. This one is quite cool, and nearly an instrumental. Beginning with another film snippet, spooky instrumental work begins to build as “Cthulhu Dreams” starts. This piece is an extended (although slightly shortened from the original) psychedelically weird creepfest. It features odd vocal sections, spoken word snippets and sound effects. When the track ends (following a false ending), it is after a frantically chaotic crescendo which dissolves into disarray.

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