I don’t profess to be an expert of any kind when it comes to marijuana consumption, and I’m about as late to the party as you can get. Growing up in the 1980s, you were conditioned to live in paralyzed fear of pot and any other drug, and that’s not easy to get out of your system. Legalization in Pennsylvania helped, as did my need to treat my anxiety, so I started my journey a few years ago, and here we are.

That said, I’m still just a cart and pen user, and though the fine folks at my local dispensaries have explained dabbing to me, we’re just not there yet. You know who is? Long-running weed and doom warriors Bongzilla who have returned with their deliriously awesome new record “Dab City.” If you’re already familiar with the Madison, Wisc., natives—vocalist/bassist Mike “Muleboy” Makela, guitarist Jeff “Spanky” Schultz, drummer Mike “Magma” Henry—you know you’re in for scuzzy, filthy doom that leaves you feeling gritty inside when it’s done. If you’re new to things, get ready for a trip that’s a blast to experience and will leave you bruised and dizzy when it’s over. Smoke up, kids.

The title track begins with Makela announcing, “Welcome to Dab City,” and then the riffs begin to snarl, the inhumane shrieks sounding like a beast you imagined when under the influence. Bluesy leads trample a mangling path, the playing bashing away, your ears left ringing dangerously. A long instrumental section keeps the psychosis rolling, the playing then flattening with force, looping back and burning out. “King of Weed” brings smoking riffs and a tempo snaking slowly, the growls charring in the sun. Bluesy hell is unleashed as the thorny growls strangle flesh, the guitars glimmer, and swaggering crunch leaves bones devastated. “Cannonbong (The ballad of Burnt Reynolds as lamented by Dixie Dave Collins)” runs 13:40, the Weedeater/Buzzoven frontman gruffly telling the tale as the playing slurs in the heat. The heaviness amplifies as the playing is calculated and punishing, percussive rumbling loosening rock, and a drone blanket is dragged over everything. Noise elevates and stretches, Collins’ storytelling returns, and the massive force weighs in and chokes you out.

“C.A.R.T.S.” opens with glowing guitars and marring shrieks, the playing brimming with attitude. The vocals cut through as the guitars quiver, electricity jolts the system, and everything charges back up before a plastering finish. “Hippie Stick” feels heavily Sabbath influenced, the growls mauling everything in its wake, the pressure eating into bone. The pace lurches and wrenches, molten heat wafting off, and the blistering makes the altered senses you’re experiencing worth the effort. “Diamonds and Flower” comes in on slinking riffs and acidic growls, sooty guitars caking on the filth. As the track goes on, the riffs get meatier and even burlier, everything doubling over with menace and power, the churning gnawing repeatedly before sinking into the dirt. Closer “American Pot” combines scratchy melodies and muscular guitars, bringing the heat to a boil before the humidity draws back and chills the flesh. Dusk warmth colors the horizon as speed increases, driving maddeningly before the growls finally dive at about the 9-minute mark, bringing an extra vicious jolt before everything ends in smoke.

“Dab City” not only is an homage to the finest of weed (and one of its most effective methods of ingestion) but also their rich surroundings, which Bongzilla mightily highlight on this album. Despite the subject matter, this is gnarly shit that likely goes down better with a sativa and a mission, which will make the experience all the more intense. This is a fun, smoking record from one of the finer representatives of stoner doom in the game.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/Bongzilla

To buy the album, go here: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS274

For more on the label, go here: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/