siLLy puPPy
PIKE 176 - 31 DAYS TIL HALLOWEEN: VISITOR FROM THE MIRROR is the 75th album released by BUCKETHEAD in the productive year of 2015. If you think this dude has gone absolutely overboard with his output, the true craziness begins right here. Starting on October 1st, 2015 BUCKETHEAD began releasing an album every day counting down the days to HALLOWEEN. This is the first album in the countdown. Some things never change. This is still an all instrumental album exclusively performed by BUCKETHEAD and it clocks in near the half hour mark at 29:32. This is another PIKE where all the title tracks are the same followed by a number. In this case we get “Visitor From The Mirror Parts 1 through 7.” The round roller coaster covering the sphere is one of the coolest PIKE album covers as well.
The album starts off much in the same way as “Quilted” which was an ambient album. For the HALLOWEEN PIKES there doesn’t seem to be much emphasis on rock, funk or metal and is more directed towards ambient, progressive electronic and eerie horror soundtracks. This album begins with electronic swirls and echoey guitar notes that immediately paint a haunting and brooding soundscape that signifies the ghoulish month of October as the countdown to the holiday that originated from the ancient Celtic harvest festival Samhain.
Like most of the PIKES that have identical title names followed by numbers, these all run together in a seamless fashion so it’s impossible to distinguish them. There is not much variety between the tracks on this one although some tracks emphasize aspects more than others. On “Part 2” for example, we get more guitar parts and drone type bass notes on a stringed instrument but this recurs from time to time.
My first introduction to the HALLOWEEN countdown was with PIKE 179 and this sounds very similar but not as dynamic as that one. This one is a bit repetitive but effective in what it’s going for. The intensity does pick up as the album progresses as some kind of cello note haunts and electronica percussion pummels through periodically. I love these haunted soundtrack type of albums as far as ambient music goes and this one certainly shows BUCKETHEAD’s ability to construct such complex layers of ambient sound like anyone else. Good dark ambient here.