Whilst keeping their fans at bay with the split release with Ghoul earlier this year, Cannabis Corpse were saving the best for last. The amusingly titled “From Wisdom to Baked” begins from the word go, its got all the hallmarks of classic death metal, the slightly tinny sound of the bass, the rumbling of the drums and of course the guitars. Although as I’m sure most of you have realised Cannabis Corpse are more of a homage, not only to Cannibal Corpse but to the death metal genre in itself.
All the material is completely original and they replicate song titles but change it to weed themed, think madlibs, and it is fantastic. From the opener “Baptized in Bud” were treated to heavy riff work, killer lead lines, whilst then blistering past “Zero Weed Tolerance” the first song to be released off the album, is a true testament to how much Cannabis Corpse have grown as a band since their previous effort Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise. Although there may have been lineup changes the song writing is solid, with fluid transitions and some refreshing new ideas.
Not to mention the fact that they pulled in death metal monsters, Chris Barnes and Trevor Strnad of Cannibal Corpse and The Black Dahlia Murder fame which have entire songs, not just the odd verse here or there with the brilliantly titled “Individual Pot Patterns” and “With Their Hash He Will Create”. Even among these classic singers, Mr Landphil still stands tall and holds his own with some excellent vocals, with a varied range that compliments the songs perfectly. But not only the singers have cameo’s there is also a guest solo on “Considered Dank” by Ralph Santolla of Obituary fame, which brings a different, yet fitting style on the song.
Its clear that with this new release Cannabis Corpse have matured, crafting intelligent and memorable songs, from the excellent “THC Crystal Mountain” beginning with an oriental style lick, to then have the chorus chanted, THC crystal mountain, I’m sure Schudliner would be proud. Even when you get to closer “Medicinal Healing”, one of the highlights of the album, were treated to the tongue in cheek lyrics and the awful sounding intro, where perhaps mini weedlings are being incubated and are attacked and their hammy screams of anguish really lock in the last song.
From Wisdom to Baked , is a fantastic album, showing that there is new talent that can be just as good as old school, the production is very much organic which echoes perfectly the mood these weedsters are going for. Also something that doesn’t get mentioned enough is the artwork, Par Olofsson really outdid himself here, the cover puts all the songs much more into context. A fantastic release that people should most certainly take seriously, even if the band doesn’t!
