BUCKETHEAD — Pike 113 - Herbie Theatre (review)

BUCKETHEAD — Pike 113 - Herbie Theatre album cover Album · 2015 · Alternative Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
siLLy puPPy
PIKE 113 - HERBIE THEATRE is the 12th album released by BUCKETHEAD in 2015. The album is comprised of four tracks and clocks in at 30:37. BUCKETHEAD’s getting funky on this one. It reminds me of his Praxis days.

The first track “Herbie Theatre - First Act” starts off nice and slow with a wah-wah funky guitar riff before it kicks into a harder funk metal groove. Once the riff is established the frenetic soloing kicks in and alternates here and there with the funky bass line. This basic pattern repeats itself for the 8:11 duration but has some spices added. Not a bad track. I seem to dig BH’s funkier side. Nice guitar effects towards the end.

Track two “Intermission” is short for a PIKE track at 3:23 and is a bizarre avant-garde electronic piece that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Throbbing Gristle or Coil album. There is a tad of guitar that is heard but mostly electronic manipulations of one sort or another that are rhythmic but not melodic. It has a hyperactive freakout ending.

Track three is “Herbie Theatre - Second Act” and at 11:29 is the longest of the four. It is what i’d call more avant-funk-metal. It has a funky bass line, frenetic guitar soloing with a strange string of electronic noises. While it’s obvious the bass is funk, there are lots of time signature changes here and there to add an extra layer of bizarreness to the overall effect at times. Despite the time length it doesn’t get stale unlike many of the lengthy PIKE tracks. Cool electronica ending.

The fourth track “Herbie Theatre After Party” clocks in at 7:34 and immediately moves on from strange electronica to hard and heavy guitar riffing with blistering solos and a little bit of staticky sounding electronic here and there. This is basically a heavy metal rocker that has an interesting way of keeping it interesting. It’s not too far removed from previous PIKES that bore me but there are just enough variations through time sigs, sound effects and surprises to keep me enthralled all the while never letting up in its intensity.

Overall i’m liking this one a lot more than the other PIKES. It has a lot more interesting twists and turns and could actually be considered progressive funk metal for much of it. BUCKETHEAD is clearly capable of making some highly inventive and original sounding music so it is quite the disappointment on many of these PIKE albums when they are repetitive and slumber inducing. This one actually satisfies my craving for daring, creative and experimental rock music. One of my favorite of the PIKES so far, but i have a ways to go!
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
siLLy puPPy wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I was hoping i'd like at least one of these! Hopefully there are a few more gems in the slunk stack
Unitron wrote:
more than 2 years ago
This sounds like a good one, I'll need to check it out.

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Rot Stink Rip Death Metal
TOMBSTONER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Human Rosin Melodic Metalcore
HATE BREEDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Through The Hell Hardcore Punk
ENEMY 906
Buy this album from MMA partners
Lightmatter: Rebirth Deathcore
EARTHGAZER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Eye Of Horus (Lightmatter EP Pt. 2) Deathcore
EARTHGAZER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Shining - Inga Broar Kvar Att Bränna
SHINING
UMUR· 4 hours ago
Shining - Jag Är Din Fiende (official premiere)
SHINING
UMUR· 4 hours ago
SHINING - Avsändare Okänd (Official Lyric Video) | Napalm Records
SHINING
UMUR· 4 hours ago
Agremorta - Adrocitas (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 5 days ago
Agremorta - Ploratus Umbra (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 5 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed