We’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is that life is a fucking cesspool of heartbreak and anxiety. The good news is, there’s weed. Since its first recorded use by a Chinese emperor with rheumatism in 2727 BC, cannabis has been a medicine to some and a huge distraction to others. And while heavy metal might have existed without it, we’re dubious — that mixture of stoner empathy and downer bummer were huge parts of what drove the young men of Black Sabbath to shape the genre into what it would eventually become. Suffice it to say, reefer is a sacrament that Mother Nature gave us when she saw how hard God was making life, and we should celebrate it for the boon it is to those of us who enjoy it for the awesome way it makes you feel.
4/20, the international weed holiday, is to stoners what Halloween is to goths — while it’s amateurish for many, and will forever be hated by a certain type of person, it offers the entire world a chance to enjoy the thing that we live by. Today, everyone’s a pothead, and is welcome to sink into a couch at our side and maybe share some of those Peanut Butter M&Ms. But what to listen to? What music is there for the average MetalSucks reader who’s here to party but got too high to make the awesome playlist they were planning? Don’t worry — we’ve got you covered.
In honor of 4/20/2022, MetalSucks presents Bong Metal, a three-hour-plus sampler of some of our favorite weed-friendly tunes. From the sci-fi reefer worship of Sleep to the smoke-drenched occultism of Electric Wizard to the steely slow-motion of Pallbearer to one of the funkiest Motörhead covers you’ve ever heard, this playlist offers a brain massage for the baked metal mind. That said, it’s not all stoner and doom metal — acts like Connoisseur, Cephalic Carnage, Hooded Menace, and of course Cannabis Corpse will take stony listeners to the limits of their chill while never tossing them over the edge.
From all of us at MetalSucks, happy 4/20, and please smoke responsibly.