While some may steer away from their roots with each wake of new material, Cancer Bats are proving more loyal as Hail Destroyer attests to.The new album, which is in stores now, breathes life into the past with old school metal inspirations and the garden-fresh punk rock of today. This quantum leap from Birthing the Giant (their sophomore release) shows an angrier and heavier attitude.
Leaving hesitation behind, writing the record was a process of improvement explains vocalist Liam Cormier.
“We listen to a lot of slow stuff and fast stuff,” he said.
“With Hail Destroyer, we just went ahead and did whatever we wanted. The biggest thing with the level of bands we toured with is all of us wanted to step up our game and I think things got way heavier (since Birthing The Giant).”
Several tours already under their belt since their debut, the group’s latest record celebrates their original punk and hardcore basis.
Their notorious chug-heavy guitar shreds harder and faster and is complimented by a set of rather impressive in-your-face lyrics that could very well make this Toronto outfit pioneers for the counterculture of the twenty first century. Cormier, however, is less than pretentious and approaches the question modestly.
“I think we just kind of like carrying the tradition of punk and hardcore music we like and we’re not like trailblazers trying to bring shit that’s got us really stoked,” he said.
Now in the middle of Canadian tour in promotion for Hail Destroyer, Cormier reflects on the feedback from both efforts.
“I feel like every single night kids telling us that they had fun is the nicest feedback,” he said. “To us, for a band, playing headlining shows is great because generally the feedback is positive and many times people will recognize that.” - Ashkon Hobooti
