Gruff, groovy and packed with their endlessly inventive weed puns, death metal parodies and demented lyrical tales, Cannabis Corpse are well and truly in the zone on their fourth full-length album, entitled From Wisdom to Baked. After kicking around on Forcefield records and Tankcrimes the band’s hard work and genuine scene cred has culminated in a deserved deal with Season of Mist. Now, with their first outing for the label Cannabis Corpse hit the ground running with their most accomplished album to date, in turn shattering the negative connotations usually reserved for parody bands of similar ilk. Expectedly the band continue channeling past and present era Cannibal Corpse, but as has been the case throughout their career Cannabis Corpse borrow heavily from the classic Floridian death metal scene and twist these conventional influences into their own sticky concoction of burly, hook-laden death metal tunes.

Up to this point, Cannabis Corpse has managed to navigate the tricky waters of being lumped simultaneously into throwback and parody metal categories during the early phase of their career. In truth it was easy to write them off in the beginning as nothing more than a fun yet ultimately disposable novelty act. Now after well and truly exceeding their expected short lifespan Cannabis Corpse continue creating killer death metal songs and lifting their game in the musicianship and songwriting departments.  From Wisdom to Baked is the tightest, catchiest and best produced album of the band’s career, with an increased focus on catchy choruses and ramping their riffcraft to a new level of quality and memorability.

Overcoming their relative lack of innovation and originality with varied songwriting, Cannabis Corpse deliver the earworm hooks and meaty grooves to keep the listener clambering back for more. Packing loads of energy and solid instrumental chops into an efficient 36-minute running time, with most songs averaging around the three minute mark, the band cover varied terrain. Songs like thrashy opener “Baptized in Bud”, chunky assault of “THC Mountain”, and the thick waves of resin-coated riffage featured on the hammering title track are typically catchy, bullocking and surprisingly dynamic numbers, showcasing the band’s continued songwriting development.

The blistering attack of “Individual Pot Patterns” and frenzied delivery of “Considered Dank” (featuring some dexterous guitar work and soloing) proves Cannabis Corpse are equally adept at more intricate riffing and high-speed tempos as they are at executing their trademark mid-tempo beatdowns. The thick churning growls of Philip “Landphil” Hall serves the material well, but it’s his exceptional bass playing that is worthy of particular praise. Providing both solid anchorage and fattening up the band’s sound, Hall frequently demands the limelight with a killer array of inventive basslines that would make Alex Webster proud, adding a dash of flair to the album’s burly core.

Overall it’s the sense of fun emanating from each Cannabis Corpse release, not just the tongue-in-cheek elements, which lends an endearing quality to the material. They are a tight unit musically with a solid knack for crafting beefy, dynamic and catchy death metal songs that are easy to latch onto. From Wisdom to Baked is another triumph and career highlight for the band, and while unlikely to shake up year-end lists, chalk this up as one of 2014’s most fun and pretension-free death metal offerings.

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