COBRA STRIKE

THE 13TH SCROLL

  1/  The 13th Scroll                                                          5.10
  2/  Water Ceiling                                                            0.29
  3/  7th Hall/6th Door                                                        2.24
  4/  Blank Sky                                                                0.53
  5/  Torn Face                                                                5.14
  6/  Wound                                                                    0.55
  7/  Inferno                                                                  6.18
  8/  Braingate                                                                2.59
  9/  CS-118                                                                   1.55
  10/ Torture Tunnel                                                           3.49
  11/ Headstone                                                                1.10
  12/ Hidden Tomb                                                              6.23
  13/ 32nd Degree                                                              1.39
  14/ Helicopter Kick                                                          3.12
  15/ Black Sea River                                                          1.15
  16/ Silent Scream                                                            1.40
  17/ Buried Alive                                                             1.38
  18/ The 13th Scroll (Digging To the Devil)                                   5.31

          Created at Moseleum Tunnel, Chatsworth, CA
          Engineering: Travis Dickerson
          Created by Travis Dickerson, Buckethead and Jerry Mano
          Executive Producer: Infared Otis
          Material Design: John Brown
Buckethead - Call Him Torker 1313: guitar, bass; Pinchface: drums; Brain: loops, beats; DJ Disk: loops, wedge; Bill Laswell: Invisible Hand, subliminal projections.

         1999 - ION (USA), IN 2009-2 (CD)

REVIEWS :

When avant-thrash-improv-metal-dub-core-speed-freak guitar god Buckethead signed to Californian post-New Age label Higher Octave a year or two back he was obviously aware that accusations of 'sell out' would fly. Given what a lightweight affair his Higher Octave debut Colma was, those fears were justified. As far as we can tell, Cobra Strike is the contractual obligation-avoiding project he put together to, as it were, keep it real. To be honest, it's a bit shred, a bit guitar school. But it's also a complete gas, with BH spraying his trademark light-speed über-metal lines across sundry hip hop, thrash and dub grooves. Rhythms come courtesy of dummers Pinchface (one of Laswell's Axiom associates) and Brain (of the Limbomaniacs) and minimalist turntable-abuser DJ Disk. Laswell himself is credited with 'Invisible hand and subliminal projections', which I guess means his usual alchemical production presence. Not a record that's going to change the world, then, but any serious guitar of HM nut will need to hear it.

Simon Hopkins (courtesy of the Motion website)