BUCKETHEAD — Pike 67 - Abandoned Slaughterhouse (review)

BUCKETHEAD — Pike 67 - Abandoned Slaughterhouse album cover

Album · 2014 · Avant-garde Metal

4/5 · 2016-10-14
siLLy puPPy

BUCKETHEAD - PIKE 67 - ABANDONED SLAUGHTERHOUSE 26th album out of 60 in 2014 and 97th overall All sounds brought to you by Buckethead and all instrumental This one has 8 tracks that clock in at 30:06 Strange because the tracks spell out ACC12656. What does it mean? Not sure But two tracks are titled “C” and two are titled “6” The tracks pretty much connect seamlessly but are slightly distinct

“A” (3:23) begins with strange electronic noises and then quickly bursts into extremely heavy and distorted industrial type metal. Lots of stop and go choppy chords with the metal stopping and letting some electronica flail around recklessly for a while and then jumping back into the noisefest. The distortion seems processed in a way to make it even more distorted than it should be. Lots of cool breaks. Very dissonant and almost Meshuggah inspired at times

“C” (3:09) picks up exactly where track one leaves off with highly distorted and jarring power chords on guitar with electronica swirling around like a freshly decapitated chicken. There are also some sinister keyboard touches to make it a very freaky and unnerving affair. Perfect for energetic Halloween music if you ask me

“C” (3:04) continues but changes the riffing a bit but pretty much the same style and intensity. It seems to be getting even more chaotic and then suddenly it all drops out and we get a little wind chime sound for a bit until it erupts into the chaotic oddly timed metal fury again. The gist is the metal does some avant-garde riffing and then it drops out and then electronic noises do their avant-garde dances

“1” (3:54) continues almost imperceptibly as a new track. The highly distortion distortion continues and the power chords become more jangly but once again metal alternates with electronic effects and sometimes they play around together. This one creates a highly tense counterpoint with a pummeling Meshuggah type rhythm with an atmospheric guitar lick floating around it. It ends completely different with a new riff and a more “normal” rhythm with wind chimes. Pretty cool track

“3” (2:40) changes into an even more energetic metal riff followed by some electronic sputtering and then back into chaotic djent type guitar abuse. It basically alternates the metal with electronica like other tracks with riffs interrupting riffs and then reverting back. Wild stuff

“6” (2:34) turns into an even stranger atmospheric feel with some metal riffs, bizarre reverberating keyboards, chaotic swirls of electronica. The metal becomes sort of industrial but continues with a djent distortion mostly. The oddly timed riffs and screaming electronica really do evoke the spirits of the slaughtered beasts of an ABANDONED SLAUGHTERHOUSE. Freaky!

“5” (5:29) continues the same track essentially after a bit of electronic sputtering. Same frantic metal riffing mixed with a guitar lick and ambience mood enhancers. It morphs into even stranger territories with an strangely timed guitar riff, percussion that sounds like someone banging on a can and horrifying keyboards with some kind of bird call. Towards the end comes a monotonous heavy riffing episode

“6” (5:49) after a few seconds of the only true silence on the album begins some strange electronic oscillations. It begins to “talk” like spirits communicating through the brume of the great veil of separation. The noises become more erratic and unsettling. They range from buzzing type sounds to some kind of “vomiting” sounds. A highly processed guitar then delivers some very very wild avant-garde riffs. Electronic wildness continues. This sounds like we are listening to the creative neural circuitry of a gifted musician in action. Like those brain wave monitors are translating the corresponding activity into sound. This isn’t what most would call music but there are musical qualities. This is avant-garde noise that has very complex and twisted ideas about rhythm, melody and sound dynamics

This is one of BUCKETHEAD’s extremely experimental albums which i love a lot. Maybe not the top tier of his output but a highly enjoyable journey into the musical world of suspending all expectations and conceptions of what orthodox music should sound like. ABANDONED SLAUGHTERHOUSE is a horrific sonic portrayal of tortured animals haunting a once productive capitalist enterprise and is extremely spectral, jarring and utterly unnerving. This one is nice because it’s weird but not toooooo weird. It should appeal to many adventurous music lovers without alienating them. Great stuff!