Cannabis Corpse - From Wisdom to Baked (2014)

Add Gorguts, Death and numerous others to the roll of the legions of lampooned death metal icons celebrated by sort-of funnymen Cannabis Corpse, here on their fourth full-length From Wisdom to Baked. "Individual Pot Patterns", "Medicinal Healing", "Baptized in Bud", "THC Crystal Mountain" are just examples of their fixation on pot puns, which I'm sure for a green chunk of their audience (or anyone twiddling their thumbs for the next Bongzilla record) is the primary draw to their material. I've mentioned in the past that I felt the band has musically outgrown its lyrical and titling gimmicks, and that sentiment persists with this album, but I'll concede by now that it's probably too late to change. Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise, a damn fine disc, catapulted the Municipal Waste side-project into the death metal conscience at large, and this follow-up largely stays the course, with a few marginal differences.

They still sound like Cannibal Corpse. A lot. And I know that's the 'point', but there are 'points' on this album where I almost got confused as to which band I was listening to. The rhythm guitars here are denser and punchier than on Beneath..., which reminds me of the other Corpse's recent tonal transitions, though the Virginians seem slightly more infused with the clinical, technical inclinations of their last effort than on, say, Torture, which was a stricter simplification. Tunes like the abusive and uptempo "Considered Dank" seem as if they were just copied, pasted and paraphrased from Cannibal's Bloodthirst-and-beyond legacy, whereas Beneath Grow Lights... had felt to me like it was moving off in a more unique direction. That's not to say they don't still possess the capacity to throw a left hook, a spurt of psycho tremolo picking or swerving, brutal chord-play which distinguishes itself from its forebear, but a lot of the riffing choices felt pretty safe and standard to the catalog of the band they offer themselves to in tribute. You might hear a few hints of Morbid Angel and old Gorguts in there, too, but largely they stick to that one primary influence, using the comparable octave chords, dissonant embellishments, and meat-hammering rhythmic undercurrents.

Land Phil's vocals draw the obvious Corpsegrinder comparisons, though I think there's a more haughty nature to his gruff guttural which draws also on a bit of David Vincent/Steve Tucker, not to mention a little Deicide when the multiple growls are layered together. The drums of HallHammer and the sheer volume of riffs give the disc a constant sense of being busy without lapsing into outrageous levels of technicality, but I have to say the most interesting instrument is the bass...Phil's lines are snapping, slapping, sliding, plunking and poking all over and through their neighbor's stash, and even when the guitars seem too derivative, he's there fattening up that bottom end like a stream of bog-water being flushed through a hydroponic system in the cellar. The mix is really well balanced between the vocals, guitars and percussion and you'll occasionally hear a more surprising melodic component to some of the riff progressions buried in a number of the tunes. As redundant as it might often seem, this is far from an effortless record, and at least the proficiency is on the same level as its predecessors.

Yeah, if you crave more of Cannibal Corpse, Severe Torture and other bands of that ilk than the originals can offer, and enjoy getting high at every available opportunity, then From Wisdom to Baked is more or less a godsend. It doesn't rock the boat as far as the prior releases, and once in a great while even tries something modestly 'new' to the cannabis canon. That said, even if it's not at all bad, I didn't get much out of this, with so many other great releases coming around lately. In truth, I found that song-for-song, riff-for-riff this wasn't as entertaining for me as the third album, or The Weeding EP for that matter. Kind of like the latest Municipal Waste full-length, it just feels like more of the same. Diminishing returns. Here's to hoping that Land Phil will give himself a little breathing space to reinvigorate both bands and lift them back up to the humorous relevance they both shared when they felt like a fresh perspective on the sounds they paid homage to.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

http://www.cannabiscorpse.us/

Cannabis Corpse - Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise (2011)

Virginia's Cannabis Corpse have at last outgrown their gimmick, and that's both the strength and tragedy of their third full-length Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise. One of the most riff oriented, memorable death metal outings I've heard in recent months, it takes the crisp punch and pungency of its predecessors Blunted at Birth and Tube of the Resinated to new heights of potency, somehow paying tribute to the objects of its lampoon while accelerating into new climes of composition and technical precision. Yes, on the surface this is a parody band more concerned with where their next high is coming from than their position within the death metal spectrum, but they're just so damn good at it that one wonders what might happen if they dropped the dope shtick entirely...

This time out, they lovingly mock the titles of Deicide and Morbid Angel tunes, though the results are mixed. Where "Gateways to Inhalation" and "Blaze of Torment" seem perfectly fit, there are others like "Chapel of Bowls", "Dead By Bong" and "Sworn to the Bag" that seem more semantically desperate. That aside, though, just about every track on the album is a whirlwind of entertaining, dynamic death and thrash metal riffs spilling forth from both the precedent of the band's influences and their own, warped sense of creativity. Songs like "Dead By Bong" and "Where the Kind Lives" are loaded with functional, memorable guitars at a frenzied clip that recall the sound of their primary stylistic mentor Cannibal Corpse without cloning it, while Andy 'Weedgrinder' Horn does his level Corpsegrinder best at creating a punctual, guttural momentum to the proceedings. Several of the later songs, "Gateways to Inhalation" and "Slave to the Chron" are almost worth the price of emission alone!

Flighty, polished and engaging while never once abandoning the concept of sound construction, the almighty riff that so many death metal artists leave by the wayside in their quest to out muscle the competition. Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise is a step beyond even Tube of the Resinated, the first hint that they were something more substantial than a vapid, vaporous gag reel. It's internally consistent, replete with fine performances from all the musicians, and so energetic that one never knows whether to bong along peacefully or shatter the damn thing in a fit of moshing anger. And that, my good friends and beloved enemies, brings us to the one sad aspect of this music: Cannabis Corpse is in danger of always being 'just that goofy pot band' rather than the death metal royalty that this album proves they deserve. As we ponder the seriousness of their skills alongside the silliness of their concept, let us try not to forsake the one for the clowning veneer of the other.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

http://www.myspace.com/CANNABISCORPSEVA

Cannabis Corpse - The Weeding EP (2009)

Essentially a death metal parody gone legit, Cannabis Corpse's previous full-length Tube of the Resinated was quite a surprise last year, chock full of quality riffing (especially for USDM). To describe the concept is not difficult: think of that 'other' death metal band, the one with the similar name, inject the dorky marijuana shtick of early Cephalic Carnage or Bongzilla, and profit. Each release spoofs a Cannibal Corpse title, in this case a play on The Bleeding.

Which leads me to the following question: what happened to Eaten Back to Life? What the hell, guys, honestly!

At any rate, The Weeding EP contains four new tracks of blunted technical death metal with the obvious influence, in addition to a little Suffocation, Morbid Angel, etc. "Shit of Pot Seeds" gallops out of the gate with a myriad of great riffs, the bass playing is also quite good which mirrors Alex Webster. "Vaporized" is excellent, with some creepy cavernous leads and brilliant moments of chugging death. "Skull Full of Bong Hits" is choppy and brutal; if you like anything from the first four Cannibal Corpse selections you'll also like this. "Sickening Photosynthesis" features more persistent, quality riffing.

You can't go wrong here if you enjoyed Tube of the Resinated. The EP has a good honest tone to it, a little lower budget than the band's idols but you can still hear everything quite clearly. The bass, drums and guitar are all impressively performed, just technical enough without going overboard. The cover art is also great. Like most good parody metal bands, they take the music seriously enough that it'd be worth listening to even without the hilarity and puns.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.cannabiscorpse.net/