BUCKETHEAD — Pike 47 - Roller Coaster Track Repair (review)

BUCKETHEAD — Pike 47 - Roller Coaster Track Repair album cover

Album · 2014 · Progressive Metal

4.5/5 · 2016-08-24
siLLy puPPy

BUCKETHEAD - PIKE 47 - ROLLER COASTER TRACK REPAIR

6th album out of 60 in 2014 and 77th overall

All sounds brought to you by Buckethead and all instrumental

This one has only 2 tracks that clock in at 30:06

“Room 7” (15:21) begins fast and furious with heavy thrash metal riffs and scorching guitar solos right from the beginning. What a contrast to the previous PIKE :P This one is as energetic as it gets. The solos are the loose electrical wires on the gonad type of wankery just whizzing up and down the scales at a million miles per second. The guitar antics continue with strange guitar licks as well. This one basically continues an extreme parade of variations for the ultimate guitar abuse workout. This is probably the most extreme, lengthy and energetic guitar tracks i’ve ever heard not only from BUCKETHEAD but from any given shredder out there. This is one is spectacular not only because of the skill sets needed to pull off this guitar playing Olympic marathon run but because the bass has interesting counterpoint melodies at times and it all feels like a metal band swirling around in a vortex at times. Pretty cool! Despite the lengthy time span, this one keeps things changing up and therefore quite interesting!

“Room 12” (14:45) starts off with a weird staccato guitar chord and then without mercy is accompanied by a rip roaring guitar solo at a million miles per second. This track is less thrashy although it’s equally as intense. This one incorporate more alternative metal chord backings with lots of dissonance and time sig freak outs occurring and then being accompanied by more face melting (beneath the mask of course) freak outs and making it clear why BH’s hands are surrounded by yellow energy fields on the album cover. This one has melodies that come and go and kind of morphed into one another with some being very circus like. As it continues it really is like riding a roller coaster where the speed and twists and turns are just like everyone’s favorite amusement park ride. And then it dawns on me that this album is supposed to be the entertainment while the ride is under repair and it’s supposed to simulate the riding experience. Bravo!

This is one of BH’s most progressive and hard hitting albums and instantly jumps to the top of my PIKE list as it contains all the ingredients that i love most by the chicken lover. It is over-the-top aggressive, highly experimental and progressive and unpredictable in that it changes things up often in bizarre and unforeseen manners. It is relentless and not for the faint of heart. It is a rare glimpse into the fully unleashed nature of BUCKETHEAD who is capable of some of the most advanced pyrotechnic guitar workouts in the musical world and also sews them all together with pseudo-jazzy meets extreme metal valor. If you loved the extreme metal prowess of “Twisted Branches” or “You Can’t Triple Stamp A Double Stamp” then this one was made for you!