Special Herbs, Vols. 4, 5 & 6 is an album of instrumental works released by MF Doom under the Metal Fingers moniker. As with the other installments of the Special Herbs series, each track is named for a herb (or similar flora) or herbal preparation, with the exception of "Coffin Nails" which could refer either to a slang term for tobaccocigarettes or literally to nails from coffins, which have been traditionally used in conjunction with certain herbs in the performance of ceremonial magic rituals.
The album's title is slightly misleading, in that it is not an entirely new volume: the second part of the previous installment in the Metal Fingers series (confusingly also called Special Herbs, Vol. 4 but also commonly known as Special Herbs, Vols. 3 & 4; it is this latter "Volume 4" that is duplicated), appears again here as the first eight tracks of Vols. 4, 5 & 6. The difference in record labels on which the various albums were released explains this anomaly, similar to the earlier doublings of Vol. 2 and Vol. 4. After this volume, the numbering of the series becomes more consistent, and there are no such overlapping tracks.
The original artwork for both the CD and vinyl versions contained depictions of Marvel Comics' Doctor Doom character (from the Fantastic Four). The original album with this artwork is now deleted but can surface from time to time on online auction sites. An updated cover was created for the album featuring MF Doom's own face.
"Galangal Root" is an instrumental version of "Dead Bent" by MF DOOM, from the album Operation: Doomsday.
"Calamus Root" is an instrumental version of "Gas Drawls" by MF DOOM, from the album Operation: Doomsday.
"Spikenard" is an instrumental version of "Popcorn" by KMD, from the album Black Bastards.
"Orange Blossoms" is an instrumental version of "The Instructor" by B.I., from the Spark the Sound split 7" with Chris Craft featuring MF DOOM. It is also used by Ghostface Killah on "Underwater" from the album Fishscale.
"Valerian Root" is an instrumental version of "Anarchist Bookstore Pt. 2" by MC Paul Barman, from Paullelujah! .
"Jasmine Blossoms" is an instrumental version of "Hoe Cakes" by MF DOOM, from the album MM..Food?.
"Horehound" is an instrumental version of "Kookies" by MF DOOM, from the same album. It is also used on "Tonight's Show" by MF Grimm featuring Invisible Man and Lord Smog, from Special Herbs and Spices Volume 1.
"Dragon's Blood" is an instrumental version of "Fig Leaf Bi-Carbonate" by MF DOOM from MM..Food?. It is also used on "1000 Degrees" by MF Grimm, from Special Herbs and Spices Volume 1; and also on "Gunz N' Razors" by Ghostface Killah featuring Trife Da God, Cappadonna and Killa Sin, from the album More Fish.
