BUCKETHEAD — Pike 240 - Chart (review)

BUCKETHEAD — Pike 240 - Chart album cover Album · 2016 · Alternative Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
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
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

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

Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion Black Metal
PANZERFAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Merciless Crossover Thrash
BODY COUNT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
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