THE DARKEST OF THE HILLSIDE THICKETS
Great Old Ones (Divine)
Originally released in 1996 as a conglomerated follow-up to ’95’s CTHULHU STRIKES BACK, GREAT OLD ONES has at long last been resurrected by Divine Industries. Although it’s obvious the quirky fivesome don’t exist to churn out new material – perhaps cultivating mankind for harvest and unholy consumption is more time-consuming than one would think – it was an extremely welcome surprise to receive “new” old (and great) orchestrations from a band I had assumed no longer existed. I guess I stand something to learn from the eternal patience of Cthulu & Co. – action will only be taken when the appointed time arrives. Takes time to hone one’s lovecraft, I suppose.
The material here – 22 tracks total – ranges between 1992-96, but flows very well and is not a hodge-podge of varying sound and skill qualities as many of these affairs are. Consistency – another attribute of HeWhoCannotBeNamed and his tentacled minions. So much to be learned. As with [CTHULHU] STRIKES BACK, everything here is quality goods, catchy as all hell and, by the second spin and before you can utter “Shub-Niggurath”, you’ll catch yourself ohm-ing along like a medulla-drained ninny. Although “One Gilled Girl”, “Colour Me Green”, “Big Robot Dinosaur”, “Six-Gun Gorgon Dynamo” and “Jimmy The Squid” all have a distant jingle of the The Dead Milkmen, but a much more ethereal weirdrom provided by Toren Atkinson’s otherwordly warble. Two versions of “Diggin’ Up The World”, live executions of CSB’s “Hookworm” and “Burrow Your Way To My Heart” and a mutation of Sting’s “Walking On The Moon” round out this infernal invocation and leave no room for excuses or nambypambying – get off your fat Azathoth and track this Dagon-ed thing down.