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.