BUCKETHEAD — Pike 303 - Castle of Franken Berry (review)

BUCKETHEAD — Pike 303 - Castle of Franken Berry album cover Album · 2022 · Alternative Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2.5/5 ·
siLLy puPPy
BUCKETHEAD’s first PIKE of 2022 has taken some inspiration from the awful sugary monster breakfast cereal that has those sickening sweet artificial strawberry flavors mixed with those foodlike substances called marshmallows. CASTLE OF FRANKEN BERRY is the 303rd PIKE installment released on the 11th of January, 2022 and features the chicken lover pulling his usual shtick of playing all the instruments.

This one clocks in at just over 27 minutes and features only two tracks. The first is the near 19-minute “Enter The Sky Walker” which features a long drawn out bluesy hard rock approach. Sounding something like an instrumental early 80s AC/DC track with more 70s hard rock blues licks added in from time to time. This is one of those repetitive by the numbers type tracks with a time length that doesn’t justify the ideas presented. Sure an atmospheric breakdown here and there but overall a lengthy instrumental jam that provides decent background music but not very interesting particularly if you’re like me and have heard every album BH has created.

The title track is much shorter at 8 minutes and 19 seconds. This one is much heavier jumping into metal territory. Faster tempos and more crushing riffs start it out but then it sort of loses a bit of steam but offers a lot more variety in the first two minutes than the tedious opener does. This one showcases a lot more of BUCKETHEAD’s riffing prowess at high speeds. There’s a thrash metal quality to the riffing styles but doesn’t really go full on thrash with the drums and bass. Come to think of it this entire PIKE is missing some of the background atmospheric touches that many recent PIKEs have employed. This one is a lot more interesting than the first track but still a little too long for what it has to offer however if you really dig these chunky riffs than why not have an extended version?

After 2021’s final PIKE which was my favorite in a long time, this one is a bit of a let down. While the second track is quite enjoyable, the first one just feels a bit underwhelming for my tastes and considering it’s 2/3 of the PIKE, the entire PIKE experience is somewhat lessened for my listening enjoyability. Fortunately nothing about this PIKE reminds me of the artificially flavored crap breakfast cereal that has been poisoning children for decades! While BUCKETHEAD proves he can continue some great riffs on his first PIKE of 2022, unfortunately he also showcases his inconsistency in quality and lack of creativity. Good album. Nothing more.
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