Connoisseur : " Over the Edge"

The most aggressive stoner metal you will hear. These blend a broad range of metal and punk influences to create something that at times comes very close to being death metal thanks to the growled vocals. The second song "All Day Every day" is only 41 secons long, but doesn't come across as grind core. There is more of a punk attitude to "Maxium Hashism". The bring in clean guitar tones for "Boulevard or Broken Bongs". The vocals are heavier than the almost indie rock like shuffle of the music under them. The only problem with some of these songs that is under two minutes is I find myself not being able to distinguish which one is which. The transition from "Weeding out the Weak" into " It's lit" is the first time this happens. Even though there is a pause and "It's Lit " more like a quick grinding ditty.

They hook me back in for "Live to Smoke".  They punk hooks that they employ remind me at times of  S.O.D and even some of the more yelled punk vocals reaffirm this connection for me. "I'd Rather Be Smoking Weed".  There is a slight crusty feel to " The Answer". This album could have very well come out in the mid 80s when punk and metal were really crossing over like this, as I can hear hint of even the Cro-mags sprinkled in. "Mala Yierba" has a fucking mean riff driving it. My rule is cool riffs alone do not make a good song, and these guys have the cool riffs, but keep them coming in a way that crafts them into good songs. Their energy makes up for the straight forward approach they take.

The problem with punk influences is they are bound to cross over into the kind of punk that I don't like which happens on " the Doctor" .  I like how "Plague Mask" drifts into a darker almost black metal like place. At 3:36 it's the album's longest song. There is a very melodic guitar riff that leads into the bong worship on "Cashed Out" , but it's more of an outro than an actual song unto it self. I will give this one an 8.5 I liked it way more than I thought I would going into this.