siLLy puPPy PIKE 195 - 12 DAYS TIL HALLOWEEN: FACE SLING SHOT is the 94th album released by BUCKETHEAD in 2015 and the 20th installment in the countdown to HALLOWEEN. We are graced with another horror inducing dark ambient spooky soundtrack to commemorate the day when the ghouls are free to roam. Once again all sounds brought to us exclusively by BUCKETHEAD with a total time just shy of the half hour mark at 29:32. This 1 has 8 tracks all titled “Face Sling Shot.” This is another one of those where all the tracks run together fairly seamlessly and creates a huge uninterrupted spookathon.

This release begins sounding like dark ambient dungeon music where it feels like i’m trapped in an underground bunker of some sort with all kinds of weird sounds coming at me. There is some sort of electronic oscillating noise that reminds me of old transistor radios searching through the spectrum to find a signal. There are also metal objects being struck randomly. This one is indeed spooky and conducive to the HALLOWEEN spirit. The noises get more rhythmic like a train rolling on a track as they pile upon each other building up to some sort of climax but as this happens sounds fade in and out only to be replaced with new ones. This one doesn’t bombard one with a ridiculous amount of sonic choices but rather selects a few and lets them play out before moving on.

As the album goes on there is absolutely no melodic developments. This is a random collection of creepy sound effects weaving in and out of the listener’s attention span. There are some percussive rhythmic things that do occur from time to time but the only recurring themes are the radio dial effect and strange percussive thunderous booms. I wouldn’t call this my favorite PIKE but it is definitely not the worst of the lot either. This is very effective as a HALLOWEEN soundtrack so for what it is, it succeeds.