siLLy puPPy B U C K E T H E A D PIKE 240- C H A R T 21st album by BUCKETHEAD in 2016 (released on Dec 2) Clocks in at 28:24 ALL instrumental

“Chart” (7:41) starts out with some speedy distorted heavy metal guitar riffing with a bass and heavy drumbeat following suite and goes through a series of riff changes all the while ratcheting up the intensity ever so slightly. Slower breakdowns occur that utilize distorted arpeggiated chords and then back to riffage with some more adventurous guitar shreds. The riffs get crunchier and thrasher after a couple minutes while the melody just seems to loop around really going nowhere. The track has an 80s speed metal feel to it. About half way through there is a key shift but it follows all the same patterns. This one is well executed but fairly standard for this kind of PIKE track and have heard this many times before so i’m not overly excited about it

“Granite Track” (10:04) begins with a slow and echoey guitar that is in true space rock territory. A contrasting bass and drums drops in and builds up speed and then drops out and then comes back as the strange guitar effects sort of swirl around and sustain. A more subdued guitar comes out of the void and arpeggiates for a bit and then back to the heavier spacey rock. This one has a spooky feel to it as the ambience has a haunting sort of sound to it. The guitar marches forth and throws in some licks that are recognizable as BH trademarks. This one is pretty cool and unique. It takes the basic instrumental approach on many PIKEs and adds a more space rock layer to it which combined with some cool guitar innovation makes for an interesting track

“Glowing Gate” (10:39) and after a long dramatic pause between tracks this one starts things off with a clean guitar that hesitatingly plucks slowly away until it adds a little distortion as the bass and a hand drum come into play. The melody is quite familiar if you’ve heard your share of PIKEs. The distortion drops out and the speed remains slow and easy. Then power chords come in and slowly add some oomph without picking up the speed but when they drop out all we hear is an ambient background and clean delicate guitar notes in a sequence. It finally picks up steam but not too much tempo as the rock guitar comes into play and it chugs more as the bass and drum pick up intensity. It does manage to pick up speed a bit and carries the melodic developments further into slight improv territory. It always finds resolution in little breakdowns where it slows down and recallibrates again. This one is OK but not OMG.

With the exception of “Pike 238 - Attic Garden” i haven’t been too excited about any PIKEs past the 200 mark but this one is fairly decent although many elements have been done before and often. This one is a pleasant listen but other than the second track nothing extremely unique