ALBUM REVIEW: Pike Vs The Automaton – Matt Pike
MATT PIKE has established himself as somewhat of a minor royal amongst the rock monarchy and, to this day, has never taken his titles for granted, working tirelessly across multiple projects to reinforce his mighty virtuosity. From his post as the lead axeman for legendary stoner-rock giants SLEEP, arguably the epitome of the sub-genre itself, and the founder of modern sludge/stoner fuzz-heads HIGH ON FIRE, Pike has remained a restless force with an insatiable appetite for the reverberating joy of six strings and a pick. With decades of experience and 12 records in tow, it’s a real shock that Pike has only just begun to carve his own path but, nevertheless, his debut solo LP, Pike Vs The Automaton, arrives besides an abundance of expectations to fulfil. Sadly, despite Pike’s propensity for greatness, the record falls short of a crippling boundary: redundancy.
HIGH ON FIRE’s 2018 effort, Electric Messiah, was a landmark in Pike’s modern portfolio, with Grammy Award-winning performances thrusting the ‘SABBATH riffs played at MOTORHEAD speeds’ formula ever deeper into wider relevancy. Despite its accolades, however, Electric Messiah would occasionally divert from the band’s norm of intelligent and engaging songwriting, drawing out eight to ten-minute runtimes into a mire of tedium and stagnation. These are missteps that Pike has bizarrely retraced on his first solo venture (perhaps all the distortion blew him off course), a decision that leaves the project desperately searching for the merciful carver’s knife to trim the fat. Highlights still exist, no doubt, with Pike’s imagination off even the slightest idea of a leash, and A-list guests – like MASTODON’s Brent Hinds and HIGH ON FIRE’s own Jeff Matz – putting their pedigree to good use, but far too often does the album stray into a monotonous, spiralling chug-fest for these facets to truly lift it above its faults.
It almost feels impossible. Pike is renowned for his talent for constructing immeasurable riffscapes across sun-bitten plains as a pioneering force with SLEEP, and yet the album’s longer cuts, namely Trapped In A Midcave, Apollyon and Leaving The Wars Of Woe, feel akin to a slow death by quicksand. Each is punctuated by riffs of great gravitas but prove to be as open to change as the drunk uncle at the end of Christmas dinner. This wouldn’t serve such an issue, but with the album boasting the dense and claustrophobic sound that it does – mirroring the isolated feel of its pandemic-stricken conception – you feel trapped by the unyielding vice grip of this psychedelic labyrinth. Perhaps focusing on the riff supply is a little short-sighted, but when it comprises the backbone of your music then it needs to be a wonder to behold. In this case, however, while Pike may describe it as “an off-the-wall psychedelic record”, this album can often feel a little ‘off-the-rack’.
Thankfully, Pike Vs The Automaton isn’t totally relentless, with mitigating factors scattered across its one-hour runtime; this is MATT PIKE after all. The initial one-two, comprised of Abusive and Throat Cobra (the latter of which sounding like the pre-enlightenment period term for laryngitis), are out-and-out HIGH ON FIRE with all guns blazing. Both are fast and furious affairs, with Pike providing his finest of roars and most noodley of solos – solos which fare far better than the more ‘methodical’ types as heard in Alien Slut Mum – and both leave a breathless first impression.
With the exception of the aforementioned obvious, the whole album in fact is a joy to dissect, with groove-driven percussive ballistics and bass licks playing a standout supportive role throughout; it doesn’t aid the songwriting woes but it’s a saving grace nonetheless. The album is very much Pike left to his own devices and he certainly doesn’t skimp on the opportunity. Land arrives at the record’s mid-point as an unexpected trip into southern blues with hearty croons and twangs aplenty, a brisk change of pace for a warming chant round the campfire before destruction begins again the next morning. It’s a glimpse of what an unhinged MATT PIKE could bring, but sadly the majority of the LP’s DNA is a hodgepodge of his past project’s finer traits.
Pike Vs The Automaton is not a bad album, it’s just not as good as it should be. It nails the fundamentals with a sharp ear for production and an even sharper one for its ruthless backend and percussion, but it seems that it’s been a while since the record’s brain has seen the grindstone, with imagination feeling dulled and worn. With any luck, MATT PIKE‘s next venture will be a step further off the beaten path, but, as it stands, the first attempt is a well-produced, mostly fun but bloated experience.
Rating: 6/10
Pike Vs The Automaton is set for release on February 18th via MNRK Heavy.
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