Post by jaerockets on Jan 15, 2021 18:37:58 GMT -5
Bermuda Triangle - Released 2002 by Buckethead
Bermuda Triangle is one of Buckethead's more out-there albums, heavily influenced by the main collaborator Extrakd. It features lots of digital/electronic experimentation, and a wide range of guitar styles.
Track 1 - Intro is a voice-over narration announcing that we are entering the Bermuda Triangle. It's probably from a TV show or something but I don't recognize it.
Track 2 - Davy Jones Locker is a delicious DJ-mixed experiment, complete with guitar and digital effects. Only 56 seconds but enjoyable nonetheless.
Track 4 - Mausoleum Door has a TV clip voice intro before sharply cutting into a drum oriented, digital sound effect extravaganza. The guitar drones over with a repetitive progression, giving the song a real weighty feel. About a minute in we get neat little repeating piano section over the drums, which lightens the mood before crashing back down into the hyper-distorted guitar that mixes masterfully with the drums.
Track 6 - The Triangle, Part 1: Extrakd comes in with some super distorted turntable scratching, and stays that way pretty much all the way through, sounding like a dying piece of heavy machinery. I like it.
Track 7 - Bionic Fog is aptly named. Sounding deep and mysterious like a foggy cove, the fading beeps and echoey drums pair perfectly with sparing guitar. Lots of interesting effects on this one.
Track 8 - Forbidden Zone burst right in with an infectious digital sounding, bleepy guitar intro that yields to kill switch extravaganza of a bridge. Most of the song is pretty much just simple note progressions with extreme usage of the kill switch for a very choppy sound.
Track 9 - Telegraph Land of the Crispies starts off with a low low low bassline on top of TV clip narration. As the guitar comes in we get a haphazard duopoly of repetitive guitar riffs, which is accompanied by the ever present digital fuckery. Not much else to say here.
Track 11 - Phantom Lights is a bit more subdued, sounding more akin to track 5. We've got some wonderfully played soloing as the main focus, with a funky bass and drums to back it up. This time the solo is a bit more prominent in the mix, which is a nice change. This solo is a bit less shred heavy and takes more advantage of messy playing and distortion filled bends. The result is very pleasant to listen to.
Track 12 - Jabbar on Alcatrazz Avenue returns to the digital 2000s era collage we've seen throughout much of the album so far. On top of all the midi sound effects and pulsating drums there's some nice little bits of guitar that are fairly all over the place. Sticking mostly to the higher range on the guitar balances out the heavy feeling set by the bass and drums. There's some really nice shred soloing at the end but it's again unfortunately way too low in the mix. I like everything else that's going on but you'd think they would make the coolest part the easiest to hear, right?
Track 14 - Splintered Triplet has wah wah bass which is played over by wah wah guitar for a unique sound. It's really funky, but in its own sort of way. In between repetitions of this main section there's this bass line that speeds up and slows down within itself, and a really fascinating way. For the last minute the entire structure of the song sort of melts into funky bass being soloed over by patchwork guitar.
Track 15 - Whatevas plays some TV narration at the start with beach wave sound effects giving the song a very chill air to it. We get a short bit of relaxed drums and chill guitar before entering the main portion of the song which is made up of various ranges of guitar solo, primarily sticking to the emotional shredding category.
Track 17 - Isle of Dead has a TV intro that says "Don't you ever take off that mask?" I see what you did there Buckethead. The music has a very uneasy quality to it. Hard to describe this one.
Track 18 - The Triangle, Part II is composed of bleak sounding, avant-garde guitar that switches between discordant ambient noise and... louder discordant ambient noise. There are some bits that have more of a musical feel to them, and some that are just all over the place random notes. The guitar is pretty much the only thing you hear here, which highlights every little note and accent. Towards the end of the song, the speed picks up and the notes are played with some real tension as they spiral around and around. This doesn't really go anywhere though, as it quickly fades back into the ambient nothingness for the last 20 seconds. This track is super cool and unique to the rest of the album, while still fitting the same overall mood.
This album is puzzling. It's quite unlike any other Buckethead release, in part to the contributions of Extrakd. You can really hear a lot of his influence if you check out their "El Stew" project. While I can't say that there are any specific tracks on here that make my jaw drop to the floor, there's something mystically alluring about the undulating guitar strings and thumping drums, topped off with mysterious digital effects and excellent mastering. For fans of Buckethead's weirder stuff, this is a great pick. If you usually prefer more rock oriented sounds, then I'd still recommend you listen to track 5, which has some a criminally underrated guitar solo.
★★★★ 1/2
Bermuda Triangle is one of Buckethead's more out-there albums, heavily influenced by the main collaborator Extrakd. It features lots of digital/electronic experimentation, and a wide range of guitar styles.
Track 1 - Intro is a voice-over narration announcing that we are entering the Bermuda Triangle. It's probably from a TV show or something but I don't recognize it.
Track 2 - Davy Jones Locker is a delicious DJ-mixed experiment, complete with guitar and digital effects. Only 56 seconds but enjoyable nonetheless.
Track 3 - Flight 19 has a sort of breathy effect over it as heavily distorted guitars play on top harsh, crunchy drums. This one has a very sharp, crunchy feel to it. There's also a healthy amount of cow bell usage on the drums, which I'm always happy to hear.
Track 4 - Mausoleum Door has a TV clip voice intro before sharply cutting into a drum oriented, digital sound effect extravaganza. The guitar drones over with a repetitive progression, giving the song a real weighty feel. About a minute in we get neat little repeating piano section over the drums, which lightens the mood before crashing back down into the hyper-distorted guitar that mixes masterfully with the drums.
Track 5 - Sea of Expanding Shapes starts off with a more upbeat chord progression, toning the distortion way back. We've still got a healthy amount of digital bleeps and bloops, but this one is a lot more dialed down than the others, with more simple, looping drums. The main focus here is the guitar, which is played beautifully. Wonderful changes to the main progression as the song travels along, always taking the song in a new direction while staying authentic to the overall mood of the song. It's truly serene. With a couple minutes left, we get one of the most underappreciated guitar solos of all time. I wish this one lasted longer, it's just so god damn sweet. Buckethead can maintain emotion throughout the shredding and kill switch effects like no one else. It's a shame that the lead guitar is so quiet in the mix here, as it's slightly overshadowed by the rhythm.
Track 6 - The Triangle, Part 1: Extrakd comes in with some super distorted turntable scratching, and stays that way pretty much all the way through, sounding like a dying piece of heavy machinery. I like it.
Track 7 - Bionic Fog is aptly named. Sounding deep and mysterious like a foggy cove, the fading beeps and echoey drums pair perfectly with sparing guitar. Lots of interesting effects on this one.
Track 8 - Forbidden Zone burst right in with an infectious digital sounding, bleepy guitar intro that yields to kill switch extravaganza of a bridge. Most of the song is pretty much just simple note progressions with extreme usage of the kill switch for a very choppy sound.
Track 9 - Telegraph Land of the Crispies starts off with a low low low bassline on top of TV clip narration. As the guitar comes in we get a haphazard duopoly of repetitive guitar riffs, which is accompanied by the ever present digital fuckery. Not much else to say here.
Track 10 - Pullin the Heavy uses another TV intro which is quickly followed by a spiraling bass loop that acts as the anchor of the track. Spare bits of high end guitar and digital DJ noisescape stuff plays over this to make what is pretty similar to the rest of the album, if slightly different of a take.
Track 11 - Phantom Lights is a bit more subdued, sounding more akin to track 5. We've got some wonderfully played soloing as the main focus, with a funky bass and drums to back it up. This time the solo is a bit more prominent in the mix, which is a nice change. This solo is a bit less shred heavy and takes more advantage of messy playing and distortion filled bends. The result is very pleasant to listen to.
Track 12 - Jabbar on Alcatrazz Avenue returns to the digital 2000s era collage we've seen throughout much of the album so far. On top of all the midi sound effects and pulsating drums there's some nice little bits of guitar that are fairly all over the place. Sticking mostly to the higher range on the guitar balances out the heavy feeling set by the bass and drums. There's some really nice shred soloing at the end but it's again unfortunately way too low in the mix. I like everything else that's going on but you'd think they would make the coolest part the easiest to hear, right?
Track 13 - Beestro Fowler has a nice, undulating intro that flows around like the waves around a tugboat, repeating for the rest of the song.. This prominent, delay driven guitar that plays over the whole song gives it a really catchy base to work with. The main star of the show in this one is the drums and mastering, with all sorts of special sounds in the background panning in and out of both ears while the drums come in short bursts to give the song some kick.
Track 14 - Splintered Triplet has wah wah bass which is played over by wah wah guitar for a unique sound. It's really funky, but in its own sort of way. In between repetitions of this main section there's this bass line that speeds up and slows down within itself, and a really fascinating way. For the last minute the entire structure of the song sort of melts into funky bass being soloed over by patchwork guitar.
Track 15 - Whatevas plays some TV narration at the start with beach wave sound effects giving the song a very chill air to it. We get a short bit of relaxed drums and chill guitar before entering the main portion of the song which is made up of various ranges of guitar solo, primarily sticking to the emotional shredding category.
Track 16 - absorbed Under starts off with what I think is reversed audio of piano and mayyyybe guitar?? It's a really weird sound. This yields to a slow, trodding drum loop that is accentuated by a fading in and out guitar. On top of all of this we get some randomly panning sound effects that go between both channels. It's a really discordant style of music. All of this fades out pretty quickly to make way for some ambient drone notes with little bits and pieces of instrumentation coming in and out here or there for a few seconds. Then sort of fades out into silence as all the instruments go away. Kind of makes me think of something decomposing under water after sitting there for decades. Creepy.
Track 17 - Isle of Dead has a TV intro that says "Don't you ever take off that mask?" I see what you did there Buckethead. The music has a very uneasy quality to it. Hard to describe this one.
Track 18 - The Triangle, Part II is composed of bleak sounding, avant-garde guitar that switches between discordant ambient noise and... louder discordant ambient noise. There are some bits that have more of a musical feel to them, and some that are just all over the place random notes. The guitar is pretty much the only thing you hear here, which highlights every little note and accent. Towards the end of the song, the speed picks up and the notes are played with some real tension as they spiral around and around. This doesn't really go anywhere though, as it quickly fades back into the ambient nothingness for the last 20 seconds. This track is super cool and unique to the rest of the album, while still fitting the same overall mood.
Track 19 - 911 has a rich piano progression playing over it that is reminiscent of track 4, in addition to a repeating rhythm guitar that sets the calm mood of the song. On top of this we have some top notch soloing in a similar style to track 4 as well.
This album is puzzling. It's quite unlike any other Buckethead release, in part to the contributions of Extrakd. You can really hear a lot of his influence if you check out their "El Stew" project. While I can't say that there are any specific tracks on here that make my jaw drop to the floor, there's something mystically alluring about the undulating guitar strings and thumping drums, topped off with mysterious digital effects and excellent mastering. For fans of Buckethead's weirder stuff, this is a great pick. If you usually prefer more rock oriented sounds, then I'd still recommend you listen to track 5, which has some a criminally underrated guitar solo.
