BUCKETHEAD — Pike 267 - Thoracic Spine Collapser (review)

BUCKETHEAD — Pike 267 - Thoracic Spine Collapser album cover

Album · 2017 · Avant-garde Metal

4/5 · 2017-07-17
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BUCKETHEAD (as Bucketheadland) / Pike 267 - Thoracic Spine Collapser / 24th release of 2017 / All instrumental / Contains 8 tracks / Clocks in at 29minutes 36seconds / everything played by Buck-buck-buckethead.

“Thoracic Outlet Syndrome” (2:58) starts things off with a heavy processed riff crunch that has a quickened tempo, a rather thrash oriented chugga chug and then adds some lightning fast guitar licks to the mix. It continues with a rather detached proggy float through time signature alley but then turns into an electronica frenzy before letting a mask melting guitar solo erupts. It reverts back into industrial thrash land. Towards the end it breaks into funk rock. A lot of mileage covered in this short monster

“Thoracic Sprain” (2:59) jumps into echoey heavy distorted riffs that sort of skip like a record as well. Instantly guitar solos erupt into an energetic frenzy before it becomes more of a psychedelic space metal echo guitar show but wait! It then goes somewhere unexpected. No way! Basically this one jumps all around from slower passages to heavier ones and changing the riffs, rhythms and basically everything as it moves on. Sort of a medley of BUCKETHEADLAND. Passages can range from total cacophony to little melodic rock bits

“Nerve Compression at T4” (3:54) changes over and adds even more zest and zeal to the energetic parade through strange metal riffing. This one is more of monster stomp type of riffing but then becomes more of a heavy distorted arpeggio followed by an ever changing rotisserie of changin’ it up styles. The segments are getting shorter and generally last only 30 seconds or so. They all have a few things in common: heavy, distorted, noisy and demented. Of course there is the occasional slow burner only fleetingly so

“Nerve Compression at T5” (4:08) begins with a heavy blues riff that sounds like a more caffeinated version of Stevie Ray Vaughan but of course that doesn’t last long and soon a serious bass funk groove erupts as does frenetic guitar solos. At this point it’s impossible to predict where these roller coaster tracks will lead you but this one tends to stay within the rails of blues rock, funk rock with only occasional outbursts into alt metal and weirdo left field ventures

“Nerve Stability at T6” (3:48) begins totally different with a robotic distorted bass groove and only a little atmospheric guitar frosting while metallic noise fuzz looms in the background. Very ominous and industrial feeling with the pace of sped of doom metal but very hypnotic until it takes a sharp turn into faster blues oriented hard rock with a guitar solo. At least for a while before it begins the spiral down another adventurous coaster track. Tempos speed up and then slow down. Complete musical breakdown and then eruptions into new styles with different instrumentals changing up their roles. Heavy blues rock makes the most appearances in this one. Ends with echoey space guitars and riff finale

“Complete Shutdown of Central Nervous System” (4:09) begins with an off-kilter guitar riff that has odd time sigs and then bursts into crunchy metal riffing and then the two styles alternate. After a frenetic venture into noise rock, it changes into funk rock and then a sizzling solo bedazzles before more blues rock enters the coop.

“Thoracic Park (home of the most spine shattering roller coasters)” (2:36) actually does have sort of a soundtrack quality to it as it chugs along in a mega-metal funk type of way. The bass riff is off the charts as the guitar adds licks but ultimately takes over with a cute little thematic riff session. The metal guitar parts are down tuned and this one actually continues an overall theme and melody throughout its existence unlike some of the other aimless tracks

“Rejuvenation Chamber” (5:04) is completely different for this PIKE. This starts out with ambient electronic swirls with a subdued guitar slowly unfurling a molasses flow paced melody. BUCKETHEAD’s ambient tracks are hit and miss with more missing the mark but this one is actually pretty freakin’ good. It has a very nice melody that is carried out by the interaction of the guitar riff but augmented by the ambient synth sounds. It is very ethereal without bass and drums. It’s like a meditative cloud sweep through the skies and after a noisy, chaotic PIKE, quite the surprise.

Not bad. Although this style of PIKE has been done many times before. BH has been perfecting his chaotic roller coaster rides in BUCKETHEADLAND to make a more balanced feel to his preferred madness of choice. Although the genre styles and avant-garde adventusisms are in full effect, there is something more gentle about how this Frankenstein is stitched together. As the PIKE progresses it gets ever more frenetic but the final track offers a nice little musical valium pill to assure the listener that everything is all right and that it was just a musical coaster ride that is now over.