Heavy High: Four Mind-Invigorating Albums to Soundtrack Your 4/20 Indulgences
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Happy 4/20. Enjoy your weed responsibly. Stay metal.
Below are some picks from what we’ll be listening to all day, among plenty of other things, of course. Nothing beats the feeling of a great album alongside the great headrush of a powerful strain. We look only for the most intense and invigorating experiences, and luckily, we find them more often that you’d think. These are just four, but they’re here for damn good reason: today is a day to celebrate the Devil’s Lettuce. It’s a perfect topping for these riffing classics.
A shout-out to Sleep’s Dopesmoker is on order, perhaps the most stoner-tastic album ever written. We didn’t include it below because it’s already a no-brainer, but it should definitely make your playlist today if you’re toking up.
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Stinking Lizaveta — Scream of the Iron Iconoclast
Stinking Lizaveta has never had any real interest in theatrics, pretense, or limitations — their instrumental mayhem was built to be played live, and their records are rough and invigorating as a result. I had the chance to catch the three-piece last year live and witness the pure joy (plus rock-solid cohesiveness) that the 25-year-strong lineup still possesses. Their free-wheeling jams have pretty much always been excellent and wildly imaginative, making them all great fodder for couch-ridden appreciation, but Scream of the Iron Iconoclast was my introduction to the band and thus my personal pick for today. The album could be performed live start to finish with no concessions — simple elements made into beautiful, labyrinthine complexity through talent (and zero studio magic, though it was mixed by Steve Albini). Prepare your mind for a solid hour of screaming guitar, dazzling rhythm antics, and overall groovy weirdness.
— Ted Nubel
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Pilgrim — II: Void Worship
Doom metal and weed just make sense together, like lovers. It’s not just doom’s methodical pace that makes sense for the High Mind — doom’s reliance on outright groove and traditional rock rhythms helps situate it easily in the mind. Good stoner doom just sounds familiar even if it’s your first time. There’s variance within the genre, for sure, but few albums nail that sweet spot between both pleasing your expectations and invigorating your sense of exploration. It’s almost like getting just the right strain of bud to fit the moment and the music — if it’s going to be Pilgrim’s II: Void Worship, better as hell bust out a mega-powerful hybrid.
I especially dig II: Void Worship for smoke sessions because it’s both invigorating and relaxing, uplifting and destructive. From its lofty, slow-arcing peaks to doomy lows, the album never tires or gets worn, especially since Pilgrim saturate their music with tons of lead, melody, and extra detail to keep your blazed mind grounded in the tunage. The title track is especially epic — and I use “epic” knowing well its overuse and lost meaning — because no matter what, if you’re baked enough, it just slams you down hard and gives you goosebumps all around, every time.
— Andrew Rothmund
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Dopelord — Sign of the Devil
It’s hard to imagine a way to make this album more worthy of 4/20 consumption — this is unadulterated riff worship conducted at the altar of fuzzy titans like Electric Wizard and Reverend Bizarre. Executed with an eerie proficiency that pushes it above the throngs of similar weed-dealing crushers, the heavy haze stirred up is just barely pierced by the nasally intoned vocals — the otherworldly atmosphere lends real credence to the tales of devils and doom that the band spins up. Yes, it’s reminiscent of doom epics of years past, but it has an unholy, earth-shaking power of its own that might be pretty much unmatched in this day and age.
— Ted Nubel
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Guardian Alien — See the World Given to a One Love Entity
The ultimate “oh shit, I’m blasted” experience. Get ripped, sit back, and tune out to this album, and you’ll thank me for weeks to come. See the World Given to a One Love Entity is a one-song feast of instrumental delights, especially the drumming of Greg Fox (ex-Liturgy) who is, simply put, fucking godlike behind the set. This isn’t metal per se — though the album’s heart is made of pure steel — but rather experimental or avant-garde psych-rock that doesn’t mind going on long, brain-bending stretches of melody or noise. Clearly, Guardian Alien intended this release to be digested in one single setting, encouraging the sort of meditative state of mind that’s almost necessary to fully absorb See the World Given to a One Love Entity‘s myriad colors and intensities without losing focus.
— Andrew Rothmund
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