UNDERGROUND CHAMBER

Alright, so this is Underground Chamber. This is an example of pushing things way too far. To sum this Pike up in one sentence, this album consists of a single 30 minute song that just aimlessly makes strange noises and awkward sound effects with occasional horrible guitar solos. This is atrocious. This is at rock bottom when it comes to the Pike series, and this is only number 4! This album literally flies in the face of what music is, completely bludgeoning any remains of harmony and melody. The best moments of the album are very few and far between, making this a rather annoying listening experience.

Most of Buckethead's experimental Pikes are actually a blast to listen to, but this is largely a musical failure. Buckethead takes his position as the only member of his outfit and abuses it until the listener seriously questions the point of the recording. In my experience with listening to Buckethead, this is actually one of the few Pikes I never got around to listening to, and I'd consider myself lucky, because darn. Occasionally, you'll hear a demented, effect-choked riff that actually manages to catch your attention, but most of this sounds like it was actually played by someone with a serious case of insanity. Almost every single one of the odd or unorthodox ideas that Buckethead uses on this recording are swiftly undermined by the severe lack of direction and creativity. This not only makes the album sound like a loose and directionless noodle session, but it makes it quite the boring and sometimes even annoying listen.

To try to describe this to someone who has never heard it would be difficult, but this can basically be summed up as music in the vein of extremely loose and unrestrained avant-garde with tons of experimental influence. Gone are all of the neat licks, the skilled solos, and even the funky bass playing. All we are given here is a massive noodle session that is frighteningly... well, frightening! There is only one section of this that is pulled off in an effective manner, and it is toward the end of the song. Everything calms down to allow some very cool funky jamming with a subtle wah effect. This is quickly extinguished by more what-the-hellery. This one section of decent jamming is arguably the strongest on the album, and the only part that could redeem this. This is quickly killed off, however, and that decent moment is thrown away. Any novelty that this has is quickly and efficiently extinguished by the massive run time of the single track of this Pike. I seriously respect the Buckethead fans who love this one, and that number is rather minute.

The album has a very thick and strange atmosphere that is delivered by odd background noises that frequent the music. There will be weird bouncing sounds, echoes, and odd feedback that continually pops its ugly head to make the music all the more hellish. I can handle the out of place background noises, but there is this specific popping/fuzz noise that seriously hurts my ears. Why the hell this is included along with the music is beyond me, but seriously. You know the static that your television makes when you lose the signal? Well, take that and put a heavy compression on it, then commence to throw it into the music. Sometimes the usage of wacky or unusual sound effects can be the musical explorer's greatest weapon, but when it is abused in an attempt to attain a demented atmosphere, it quickly becomes annoying.

In the long run, this is a Pike that is to be avoided by fans and non-fans alike. It takes a battle-hardened Bucketbot to brave the Underground Chamber. I would like to consider myself among those ranks, but this is still something that fails to be an engaging or even enjoyable listen. I would recommend that everybody stay away from this one. If you are hugely into avant-garde/experimental things, like the Residents and whatnot, you might enjoy this. Overall, this is one of the absolute worst Pikes. The funny thing is that Buckethead would release Look Up There right after this one. Look Up There is considered by a huge crowd of Buckethead's fans to be the best Pike. Go figure.

Originally written for The Metal Archives