Photo: Jess Baumung
They’ve birthed a grimy hardcore giant and hailed a more metal-centric destroyer, but in 2010, Cancer Bats are dropping their heaviest, deadliest, and most brutal offering to date with Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones.
Its title derived from the nicknames of each of the four Bats – drummer Mike Peters, guitarist Scott Middleton, vocalist Liam Cormier, and bassist Jaye Schwarzer, respectively – this record represents the full emergence of the band’s purest and truest sound. With 2006’s Birthing The Giant and 2008’s Hail Destroyer, the Bats were writing as a trio and enlisting the help of a touring bassist for live dates, whereas here and now, the Cancer Bats machine is a strong, stable unit comprised of four steady pieces.
That’s not to say their earlier albums were anything but blistering collections of balls-out rock, because, as anyone who’s shared some blood, sweat, or beers at a Bats show will attest, that sure as hell isn’t the case. Hail Destroyer was the album that found the band coming into its own, and as Cormier explains, they’ve used it as a jump-off point for further refinement. “We’re really happy with what we did there,” he shares, “and used it as a blueprint for what was next.” What was next was a lineup forged in fire coming together and making an album representative of what Cancer Bats do best. Says Cormier directly: “This record is truly the four of us, and we’re totally fucking stoked on it – top to bottom.”
Like its two predecessors, Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones emerged from Toronto’s renowned Vespa Studios. While they’ve engineered all three, the duo of Kenny Luong and Eric Ratz first treaded the waters of production on Hail Destroyer. The pair, like their brethren in the Bats, has since come into their own as a unit, allowing both parties to confidently converge with this latest release – the peak of the partnership so far.
The album shows a sharpening of the band’s musical blades – a tighter rhythm section, a gnarlier teeth-grinding guitar tone, and a vocal performance that truly encapsulates the passion Cormier brings to the stage. “This is definitely the best representation of our live sound,” says the singer proudly, also noting that the record benefited from plenty of pre-production, and subsequent care and attention to even the most minute of details. “We made sure that all of the parts were properly fused together, and that every small section was the way it should be.”
This is more than evident on tracks like the single “Dead Wrong,” a blistering taste of brutality with a vocal performance capable of commanding anyone within earshot. Similarly, the road-tested “Scared To Death,” with a dirty, driving drum beat and drastic dynamics practically reaches out of the stereo and forces heads to bang. What’s more, Bats haven’t lost their ability to empower and encourage listeners through their lyrical content. Indeed, this is the Bats at their best, with plenty of ferocity and fire.
“We just wanted to spice up our set list last summer, but the cover kept going down so well that we thought, ‘Maybe we should record this…’” explains Cormier about the appearance of the Beastie Boys’ classic “Sabotage” on the album. “The recording went so well that we thought we’d shoot a video for it. That went so well that someone suggested we put it on the record,” and after a hint of hesitation, the rest was history. The track is as much fun as it was on the Beasties’ Ill Communication, though in true Bats fashion is even more, well, beastly and blazing.
And blazing is the term that best describes the current incarnation of Cancer Bats. Since Hail Destroyer, they’ve charred the pages of Kerrang!, Alternative Press, NME, Exclaim!, and countless other top-tier publications. They’ve ignited the concert going kindling from stages at SXSW, Taste Of Chaos, Download Festival, Edgefest, Leeds, and Reading, and alongside heavyweights like Rise Against, Billy Talent, Alexisonfire, Bring Me The Horizon, and Bullet For My Valentine Still, the ultimate goal is just to share their music with people that are passionate about it.
“I’d just love for everyone to be able to hear this thing,” states Cormier about the band’s latest. It’s definitely the Cancer Bats, so if you weren’t a fan before, Cormier doesn’t see this one pulling you to the dark side. Simply stated: “If you hate our band, you’ll hate this record.” Luckily for ravenous Bats fans, though, the inversion is also true, meaning many will be frothing at the mouth in anticipation.
