Cannabis Corpse is a death metal band that writes original music with equal parts brutality and comedy. The band has been plowing through with their pun-heavy, weed-informed approach to Death Metal for the last few years. It is a cool musical journey that began with silly bantering among young brothers.
Hall said, “Well the initial thought process was when my brother and I were 17 years old. We thought of the name Cannabis Corpse and thought it was a really funny name. We love Cannibal Corpse and we love death metal. So we decided that name would be a good way to be different than the average death metal band out there. The whole gimmick and name seemed like a clever sort of different thing to do other than your typical death metal band name.”
On this installment of Liberty Music, Phil Hall (bassist/ vocalist) of Cannabis Corpse detailed aspects of the latest record Nug So Vile, the unfortunate saga with Cannibal Corpse alum Chris Barnes, and so much more!
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Eventually, the well would invariably run dry with the amount of Cannibal Corpse song titles you could make coherent cannabis puns about. After a while, Cannabis Corpse began to expand its weed-based naming process to song titles from various other influential bands. Hall stated, “Eventually we got to the point where we were like ‘there’s a limit to how many Cannibal Corpse songs we can parody’. We just opened it up to other death metal bands that we like. It’s just kind of like an homage. We love all these bands and they’re the whole reason we play music. Everything we do is with love.”
The journey in Cannabis Corpse has been a DIY enterprise whereby one’s hand is in every part of the creative process. Hall quipped, “We’ve been self-producing our records since the very beginning. So obviously with every single album we learn a thing or two about music production. Things to do and things not to do. Over the years we have sort of developed things to where they are now. I’ve graduated all the way to the point of producing the new Municipal Waste album and all the Iron Reagan records. So I feel like I’ve gotten to the point where I’m pretty confident in my abilities as a music producer.”
Cannibal Corpse Connection
There was a period of confusion during the band’s early stages where some people thought they did covers. The nature of the band’s name lent itself to some thinking they did straight Cannibal Corpse covers but with humorous titles. Hall said, “I think at this point people kind of know what we’re about. I feel like the cover band mistake hasn’t happened in a very long time. I feel like we’re finally to the point where Cannabis Corpse is it’s own entity.” Though not a cover band CC certainly has had brushes with Cannibal Corpse over the years.
In the nascent stages of the band, Hall reached out to Alex Webster for tips on bass tone. Webster was happy to oblige as the young Hall was wanting to pay proper homage to the extreme metal bass legend. Hall also got to smoke weed with Chris Barnes. Alas, it wouldn’t all be good, stoney times with the inaugural Cannibal Corpse vocalist.
Hall stated, “Barnes was pretty cool, dude. We did two albums for Six Feet Under. I wrote and recorded the entire album Crypt of the Devil. After that, Barnes sort of ghosted me. He didn’t talk to me anymore. I think it has something to do with ripping me off for money. So I think he’s ducking and laying low because he doesn’t want to pay me. He has a bad reputation. Everybody on the music scene sort of hates him. I was giving him the benefit of the doubt and kind of putting my best foot forward with him. Then he proved the rumors true.”
Cannabis Corpse
For Phil Hall there are multiple bands that he’s in. Some of the groups he presently plays for include Municipal Waste, Iron Reagan, and Cannabis Corpse. To sustain the life of one band is challenging but never mind several simultaneously. As far as a methodology for maintaining multiple bands goes, Hall quipped “I just get up in the morning and everyday work until I go to sleep. I don’t really have any downtime. I try to schedule all the shows very far in advance so there isn’t any sort of overlap or double bookings. Sometimes it can get kind of complicated but generally, I just work every day. Try to stay busy and just out-hustle all the other bands out there.”
New Cannabis Corpse Album, Film Appearances, and Weed in Music
Cannabis Corpse has a new record on the way set to drop on November 1st. The album title is a nod to Quebec death metal legends Cryptopsy, ‘Nug So Vile’. The record showcases Corpsegrinder cutting guest vocals (current Cannibal Corpse vocalist) and a guest solo from Black Dahlia Murder’s guitarist. Also a fun anecdote, the album was ran through a tape machine to get that old school death metal tone. Blasphemy Made Hash is one of many delightful/ dank song titles on a record that promises to be sonically cohesive yet unabashedly brutal.
Another interesting parallel between Cannibal Corpse and Cannabis Corpse is that each has been featured in a movie. Death metal fans fondly talk about Cannibal Corpse being featured in an Ace Ventura film and that became a fun little footnote in their legacy. For Cannabis Corpse, they made a cameo for the BBC film ‘In The Loop’.
Hall said, “One of our old band members had a friend that was looking for someone to be in the movie. We drove up to Washington, DC and shot a scene. I guess it was a pretty successful movie in the UK and stuff. It’s pretty crazy. I was in a hotel room in Mexico City and that movie was playing in my hotel room and I saw our scene.”
Though he has pulled back in terms of quantity over recent years, weed is still very much a part of Phil Hall’s life. Hall stated, “I still smoke shit loads of weed. It’s how I self medicate obviously. I need a way to kind of sedate myself.” In summation, Hall said “Weed goes hand in hand with music. All kinds of music. All types of music.”
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