SLUG CARTILAGE

PIKE 24 - SLUG CARTILAGE is the 14th album released by BUCKETHEAD in 2013 and the 54th overall solo studio album. Another strangely titled album by a the strange musician who plays everything on this all instrumental album. While BH handles all instrumental duties, this one is also produced by Dan Monti and Albert. NINE strange tracks end up stealing 30 minutes and 31 seconds from your life if you dare enter the realms of the invertebrates. This is another weird experimental album. Tracks are clearly separated from one another

"Four Ton Chandelier" (2:29) begins think with a rather oddly timed clean bass run before being drowned by a blistering metal chord riffage that alternates with the clean guitars and also mixes it up together. The mid-tempo madness suddenly changes into a blistering full speed metal assault of the senses with ripping riffs, blistering bass and ear damaging drum assaults. It changes into some weird jazzy dual guitar alien weirdness that only slugs can comprehend

"Scowl Owl" (3:57) is another blistering avant-garde metal track that has heavy chords joining a repetitive drone background note. It all cedes to a bizarre guitar lick that then cedes to a furious metal assault and then turns to quiet time with only a tinkling of the guitar in the background only to turn into blistering metal again. All these weird parts trade off and create a very creative and wild metal ride with strangely tuned contemplative guitar licks intermittently offering a meditative peaceful respite from the metallic din

"Previous Plate" (5:05) begins with the quiet contemplative meditative guitar licks that once again erupt into a highly distorted metal riff. They alternate. It seems that the weirdness on this album comes from an alternative down tuning of the strings. It's all very much in the bass zone. This one sounds somewhat normal in an alternative metal phase

"Chip of Red" (2:46) is a grungy down-tuned metal rocker that has quiet buzzing passages with strangely tuned acoustic guitars do intermittent arpeggios.

"Pine Sap" (1:58) is a funky bass slappin' speedfest with a hyperactive guitar lick turning into a metal guitar riff. The riff disappears and the bass slappin' resumes. Pretty cool little ditty with a terrifying ending

"Smudge Mad" (3:43) is a bouncy little alternative metal rocker that has a nice melody and has nice grungy guitar playing perfectly in unison with a bass and drum and then changes up the riffs a bit before totally becoming a spaced pit clean guitar chord slowly strumming away by itself and a slow drumbeat. Of course it changes soon and turns into a heavy metal riff again. It has a strange period of dissonance where the guitar becomes totally distorted and out of tune and then it changes again into some tinkly guitar lines. Very weird but really cool

"Zebra Stripe" (3:59) kinda blends in with previous track and continues the same riff and melodic developments and just kinda changes it up slightly. I was thrown off because i assumed it was just a continuation of "Smudge Mad." It is basically in reality a continuation of that track with the same types of changes but slightly different variations of course

"Slug Cartilage" (2:35) is another bass heavy funkfest although not as fast as "Pine Sap." It changes into a chuggin' crunchy metal track that trades off with the funk part but becomes weirder as they trade off. One for the truly insane. Yep, that would be me. I love it!

"I. Wasnail" (3:53) begins with clean guitars and a grungy guitar accompaniment adding power chords to the clean weirdly tuned arpeggio. It breaks into strange sounding distorted alternative metal guitars, a strange bass line and then the guitars slow down and do all kinds of weird arpeggios, licks and riffs. Yet another highly bizarre avant-garde metal track that reminds me of early Kayo Dot as it continues with doomy chords and weird time sigs and a clean guitar together that become faster and then fade out

After this one i worship the almighty SLUG god for they are wise to collaborate with CARTILAGE to unleash the avant-garde metal freakazoids that make me really love this one. Another top notch PIKE that i will be returning to. This one satisfies both my avant- garde needs and scratches my metal itch simultaneously. Whoah, another highly satisfying PIKE that i love. Excuse me. I must go lick snails now