siLLy puPPy As BUCKETHEAD raced into the year 2007 he was already releasing several albums per year as well as collaborating with myriad other artists and even releasing treasures from the coop that were sitting in perpetuity and finally hatched this same year. The second “normal” studio album of the year was intriguingly titled DECODING THE TOMB OF BANSHEEBOT which followed in the footsteps musically and stylistically as its predecessor “Pepper’s Ghost.” This is another instrumental album where BH plays everything with the exception Dan Monti who not only provides production and programming but plays a mean bass.

Once again BUCKETHEAD provides a more accessible album apart from some of his avant-garde weirdness of the past. DECODING THE TOMB OF BANSHEEBOT finds easy to digest metal riffs, standard tunings, time signatures and not really anything new that stands out in the chicken lover’s universe. While not quite reaching for the easy listening depths of lullaby music, this one certainly does provide a smooth ride through a sea of heavily distorted alternative metal riffs and stellar groovy bass lines with adequate percussive backing. While there are guitar solos, they are de-emphasized with the focus being placed squarely on catchy melodic developments and when solos do occur they are primarily based in heavy bluesy rock runs.

One of the things i like the most about BANSHEEBOT is the use of tones. While the guitar riffs are fairly generic for someone like BH, there is a superb production that allows different twangs and tones to echo or distort to high heaven. As usual, the musicianship is top notch especially in some of the heavier riffs such as on “Killing Cone” with super aggressive thrashy riffs that could easily fit in on any Kreator album. Although the tracks are somewhat varied they are very much in the same ballpark meaning this is one of BH’s less versatile offerings. There are variations of super heavy riff oriented segments with the slower clean guitar echo parts, but for the most part BH doesn’t add many experimental or avant-garde touches.

In some ways the metal parts remind me of the early years of his debut “Bucketheadland” minus the freaky extras of course. This is a by-the-books production. This is a great introduction to the chicken lover for those who need to ease their way into his mysteriously bizarre musical universe. This one is easy to digest but provides a good BUCKETHEAD 101 for anyone interested in starting with the more palatable, less freaky eggs in the basket. Personally, this one is a tad too tame for my tastes. It’s BH’s avant-garde tendencies that add that extra joie de vivre to the mix and when music is performed this “normal” there should really be a vocalist involved to give it some character. As it stands it’s just sort of an instrumental rough draft for something grander. Nothing bad on here but just not terribly exciting either for those already fully indoctrinated in the cult of the chicken.