The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell

The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell is the thirteenth studio album by American guitarist Buckethead. It was released on April 20, 2004 via Disembodied Records.

The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell
Studio album by
Buckethead
ReleasedApril 20, 2004
GenreExperimental metal
Length52:16
LabelDisembodied
ProducerDan Monti
Buckethead chronology
Population Override
(2004)		 The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell
(2004)		 Enter the Chicken
(2005)
Alternative Cover
Alternative front cover, used on some editions of the album.
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [1]

The album contains seventeen songs, and noted as a return to the heavy metal style of his earliest recordings after several years of more experimental and acoustic albums. The album includes the song "Spokes For The Wheel Of Torment", one of the few Buckethead songs for which a music video has been made.

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Descent of the Damned"3:07
2."Spokes for the Wheel of Torment"2:17
3."Arc of the Pendulum"2:32
4."Fountains of the Forgotten"3:22
5."The Treeman"3:40
6."Pylegathon"2:35
7."Traveling Morgue"3:18
8."One Tooth of the Time Train"3:27
9."Bedlam's Bluff"3:15
10."Beaten with Sledges"2:52
11."Woods of Suicides"3:28
12."Yellowed Hide"3:37
13."Moths to Flame"3:13
14."The Ravines of Falsehood"3:11
15."The Black Forest"2:12
16."Haven of Black Tar Pitch"3:19
17."The Escape Wheel"2:52
Total length:52:16

Notes

Many of the song titles include references to elements of Dante's Inferno.

  • "Descent of the Damned" could refer to the journey that sinful souls make down to Hell.
  • The name of "Woods of Suicide" is the name of the Seventh Circle Of Hell where those who take their own lives are sent to suffer.
  • "Ravines of Falsehood" could easily refer to the Eighth Circle, reserved for those who commit fraud, as the Eight Circle has many individual pits ('ravines') where different types of fraudulent sinners suffer.
  • The music video for "Spokes for the Wheel of Torment" has imagery that is inspired by the triptychs by Hieronymus Bosch, which depict many Inferno-esque scenes.

Spokes For The Wheel Of Torment
"Spokes For The Wheel Of Torment"
Song by Buckethead
from the album The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell
ReleasedApril 20, 2004
RecordedJohn Merrick Recorder
Genre
Length2:17
LabelDisembodied
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Dan Monti

"Spokes For The Wheel Of Torment" is the second song from the album and one of a few that have a music video (the others are "The Ballad of Buckethead" from the album Monsters and Robots, "We Are One" from Buckethead's 2005 album Enter the Chicken, "Pyrrhic Victory" by Thanatopsis, and "Viva Voltron", for the animated series Voltron).

Music Video
Stylized image of Buckethead in the song's video clip

The music video was directed by Syd Garon and Eric Henry featuring additional artwork by longtime Buckethead collaborator Bryan "Frankenseuss" Theiss. The video is based on the famous triptychs by Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, The Last Judgement, the Paradise and Hell, and The Temptation of St. Anthony.

The music video starts showing a place that looks like hell where Buckethead has a lute and is carried by a flying beast which releases him. Buckethead ends in the hands of the "Prince of Hell" from The Garden of Earthly Delights triptych.

Buckethead gets eaten by the creature and his head, the lute and the two arms fall, getting themselves stuck on a tree where Buckethead starts to play a part of the song. While he plays, a lot of people getting killed are shown in several ways and a bird is picking body parts. Then the "Tree Man" from the same triptych is shown and the camera changes to the upper part of the triptych where all is on fire.

Buckethead keeps playing and when the song finishes the screen goes black and the credits appear showing the triptychs by Hieronymus Bosch. After the credits the camera pulls to show the credits were on a circular shape. During this time, parts of the song "Traveling Morgue" from the same album are played. The screen goes black again and the words "Beware, Beware, God Sees" appear.

The clip was shown at some film festivals around the world, such as the Sydney Film Festival,[2] amongst others.[3]

The "Tree Man" from Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights triptych

The music video has been officially made available in 2006, as part of the Anxious Animation DVD release[4] as well as Buckethead's own video compilation Secret Recipe.

Personnel

Performers

Production
  • Dan Monti — producer, engineer, mixing, programming
  • Robert Hadley - mastering
  • Bryan Theiss - artwork
  • P-Sticks - artwork (back cover, inside portrait of library)
  • Steven Morrison - title inspiration[5]

References
  1. Westergaard, Sean (2004-04-20). "The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell - Buckethead". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
  2. 52nd Sydney Film Festival Archived July 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  3. 2005 bitfilm festival Archived May 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Murray, Noel (2006-06-13). "Anxious Animation | DVD | DVD". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
  5. "Images for Buckethead - The Cuckoo Clocks Of Hell". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
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