Yeah...he writes his own. He's very fast, a'la EVH, but that's not his only trick. He is a virtuoso and can improvise with the best of 'em. He's also not locked into any one particular style, but is exceptional at many.
Here's a review of one of his albums:
_MUSIC
Cobra Strike 2 - Buckethead
ION Records
2000
review by Terry Wickham
The masked man has transformed once again into the reptilian serpent with a hood and deadly fangs. I'm of course talking about Buckethead. The second Cobra Strike is amazing guitar playing that will rip off head and its venom will make you dizzy listening to it.
"False Radien Cross" is a wicked flood of smashing sledgehammer rhythm with lead playing that is utterly dangerous. "Poison Wind" is gloomy as a fall day. "Hellchop to Blind Claw" is like lighting striking down from the sky in the form of heavy rhythm that tears the flesh from your bones. "The Funeral" Bucket uses a beat that sounds like a distorted chorus of chickens dancing and then lays down a rhythm that is purely and simply nasty. At the start of the song there is an audio clip from Phantasm where Angus Schrimm says "The Funeral is about to begin," then goes into a mellow section that turns into nightmare shredding. "Beware of the Holding Funnel" is a mood piece where Bucket has a nice cruising rhythm, while the other guitar takes the high melodic, bluesy road with cool echo distortion.
"Traitors Gate" has a grooving rhythm played by using the on/off switch and then throwing out sweltering leads in between the rhythm. There's a section that sounds like a clucking chicken. Towards the end you can actually hear the clicking motion of Bucket picking the strings. "Moonflake" is madness! "First Master" is an audio clip from a martial arts film. Urban shred is at it's best in "Splinter Pool." Towards the end, the big B gets funky and bluesy. "Notorious Swade" is absolutely insane!
"Blood Scroll" features Buckethead messing with the power switches and throwing his guitar into robotic overdrive. He gets it to sound more like a computer than a guitar. We get a cool audio clip from Nightmare Before Christmas. "Yoshimitsu's Den" is a video game converted into guitar audio. "Cobra Cartlige" almost sounds like a Cobra Strike 2 suite (song that includes parts from all previous songs).
Buckethead turns his fret board into a hurricane of notes in "Slap To Branding Nunehuka." He rips it up so much, it's as though he is pulling the guitar apart with his hands. In "Spider Crawl" he slashes his guitar with sliding madness.
This album is not for the guitar faint of heart. It's extreme guitar playing at the highest level. Challenge yourself and face the cobra.
