Blunted at Birth

When I first saw this album, the band's name and song titles such as "Force Fed Shitty Grass", "I Cum Bud" or "I Will Smoke You", I thought it was going to be a cover band, playing Cannibal Corpse classics with changed, weed-oriented lyrics, or even a mindless clone. I was soo wrong... After a first listening, I found a very original band just parodying Cannibal Corpse's song titles, raw, quite technical and funny, even crazy at times. Yes, funny. Who said death metal had to be such a serious and severe thing? Some funny atmospheres, created with song titles and lyrics (and surely thick clouds of weed smoke), make them move far away from the mainstream ultra-brutal wannabees popping out everywhere. Undoubtedly, I also find them far more original than the original band they're supposed to parody.

The guitars are simple, yet effective, playing some catchy riffs and pretty technical though, but it's not the Origin/Nile/Deeds of Flesh type. Bass guitar does exist, although it's barely audible. Drums sound powerful and intense, playing some original patterns, with a medium range of speed from mid to fast pace, some heavy slow sections here and there, and no trace of slamming found. The only thing here really akin to Cannibal Corpse is vocals, low and deep, Chris Barnes alike; nice growls with some treble backing screams.

The songwriting includes some original riffs and song structures. It sounds well rehearsed and catchy, not your sloppy average ultimate-slamming-ultra-brutal-death-metal band, but raw and brutal enough. Maybe the production makes the final sound a bit dark, but it's not a major issue since the overall result is solid, thick and heavy.

Given I come from Spain, and my native tongue is not English, I usually can't understand death metal vocals unless I read the lyrics alongside while listening to the music (there're some vocalists I don't even understand while reading their lyrics!) Anyway, here I found some understandable phrases; Andy "Weedgrinder" is low, his growls and grunts go deep and guttural, but he's still easily intelligible (yet I still need the lyrics sheet). Their lyrics, as mentioned above, have been pretty much weed-treated. Just like mixing up in a weedgrinder some conventional blood-and-guts-everywhere death metal lyrics with tons of grass... One can almost see some greenish gray smoke flowing out of the stereo, and smell that marijuana scent. Ooops, that was me, sorry!

Band has that funny aforementioned attitude, and this is the point where most people despise the band or think they're nothing but a joke, not me. People tend to think a band with this attitude would not take the songwriting, rehearsing and recording too much seriously, and it would become goofy sooner or later. I hoped this wasn't the case with Cannabis Corpse, and I haven't been disappointed yet, since their following releases are as original and intense as this one at the very least.

With a name like Cannabis Corpse, one would expect just a shitty knockoff of Cannibal Corpse, possibly with a stoner influence or something along those lines. While this does indeed draw much influence from early Cannibal Corpse, this is much more than a shitty imitator.

The first thing I noticed is that the riffs are very intricate. There is almost always something interesting going on with the guitars, and there is very little of that simplistic chug-chug bullshit. There is not much in the way of melody here; like most bands of this style, Cannabis Corpse goes for brutality rather than catchiness. Sadly, there are very few memorable riffs or songs on this album; the songs themselves are too fast paced for any single part to get into your head. Rarely is the same riff repeated after it's finished. This is good because everything on here sounds roughly the same; if the songs didn't change so frequently it would be very easy to get bored. There is only one guitar solo on this album that I can recall, and it's a slow, half-buried one in the last song, "When Weed Replaces Life". Additional solos would definitely help keep this album more interesting.

Another thing that struck me on my first listen is the vocals. They are very reminiscent of Chris Barnes from Cannibal Corpse; they're guttural and almost impossible to decipher without the aid of printed lyrics. However, they're not so brutal that the syllables and words just turn into a bunch of identical grunts. If you take the time to follow along with the lyrics, you'll be pleasantly surprised. The lyrics are pretty funny if not a little immature. The song titles feature some great weed-related puns on Cannibal Corpse songs (I Cum Bud instead of I Cum Blood, etc.).

The bass on this album is pretty good, but it's also pretty hard to hear. There are a few exposed parts, but mostly the bass just follows whatever the guitars are doing. The bass playing is extremely similar in style to Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse, so if you're one of his many fans you should enjoy the bass work on this album (if you can hear it). The other half of the rhythm section, the drums, is much more upfront in the mix. They are extremely varied, with many fills and style changes to keep things interesting. The drummer in this band is clearly talented; there are some complicated patterns and he plays them all with near-perfect precision.

The production on this album is gritty and slightly muddled. Nothing stands out to an extreme degree, but some things (such as the vocals and the bass guitar) don't stand out enough. This makes the drums seem a little loud in comparison, with the bass drum getting a lot of prominence. Another issue I have with the drum production is that the cymbals are too splashy, sounding very thin and reverberating for too long. However, the production on a whole is very good considering the limited resources the band hand to work with.

Overall, this is a good, solid slab of death metal from a band that makes music better than the band they're parodying. It doesn't seem particularly suited to being listened to while baked, but I'm sure being stoned would make the lyrics seem even funnier. The length also makes it very accessible; anything longer than the 25 minutes this album runs and this would start to get boring. There isn't much variation in the songwriting, but this band has found something they're good at and they don't mess with the formula. It's not really the most original or interesting thing out there, but any fan of straight-up death metal, especially fans of Barnes-era Cannibal Corpse, should consider picking this one up.

To express the extreme liking to smoke weed and listen to Cannibal Corpse. Right from the mouth of the band; this statement pretty well sums up their first album.

Although based in parody, Cannabis Corpse’s attention to mimicry is far from a laughing matter, unless your stoned that is. In fact should a regular heavy metal joe line up the songs of Cannibal Corpse and their counterpart parodies from Cannabis corpse, there is a high chance he/she will think it the same band and song.

This first entry to their discography is as staggeringly guttural as Cannibal Corpse was during Chris Barnes days. The vocals of Andy “Weedgrinder” are shockingly similar to those of Chris Barnes, although some guest vocalists were brought in to ease the pressure.

The guitar play, both by Nick and Landphil, was nice even though the sheer heaviness of the bass, vocals and overall feel of the album overshadow it in some places. There are however some good and catchy backing riffs to keep anyone satisfied.

Speaking of bass, if you have ever heard any Cannibal corpse song you will undoubtedly notice the great presence of the bass guitar, especially when its Webster. Landphil could not be a more perfect match for recreating the heavy chugging and technical bass lines that so stood out. Phil’s bass playing is exceptional more than likely due to his other band Municipal Waste. The technical bass riffs heard in MW are heard just as well as in Cannabis Corpse.

What else can you say about a parody band of Cannibal Corpse; Oh yeah the need for some skull-splitting skins work. Delivered in full by Mike “Hallhammer.” The rhythm section of Cannibal corpse is really what made the bands sound. The same goes for their parody band. Bass of rhythm.

So if you enjoy yourself a little smoke and are into death metal extremes, Cannabis Corpse is the band for you. Beware their similarity to Cannibal corpse may cause you to go catatonic unless you’ve had a hit or five beforehand.