Bravewords.com > Hardwares > CANCER BATS

On their fourth album, Toronto hardcore band CANCER BATS get their sound nailed down, hard: opener ‘R.A.T.S.’ has absurdly memorable verses, while ‘Bricks And Mortar’ follows that up with an upbeat southern metal riff worthy of DOWN. ‘The Void’ combines a sludge metal foundation with more upbeat, rocking moments; ‘Drunken Physics’ has a sung chorus that spits in the face of every good-cop sung chorus laid down over the past seven years; like everything on this album, these work. The chorus of the title track, as well as the post-chorus riff, is the stuff that metal classics are made of, despite the song being enveloped in a hardcore wrapping; that’s the appeal, and the beautiful trickery, of this band. While many bands who try to take their hardcore roots and add in metal flourishes just sound trite and forced, Cancer Bats just sound raw and dirty and real, playing metal riffs with the spirit of hardcore punk with much success. And while all their albums are worth checking out, here they just nail it down hard, compact, concise, and intense.

HARDWARES

CANCER BATS

Dead Set On Living