The Guide speaks to hardcore heavyweights Cancer Bats
Liz Crosthwaite • Published 17 Mar 2013 06:30
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Coming to Sub89
ONE OF Canada's most successful hardcore exports, Cancer Bats, are bringing their volcanic live show to Reading this month. The Toronto natives deal in heavy, riffy slabs of thrash-tinged punk-metal, with frontman Liam lending his delectably abrasive vocals and searing lyrics to the extremely mosh-worthy mix. This stuff should carry a whiplash health warning.
The band released their fourth album, Dead Set On Living, last year, and Liam said the reaction had been immense - and much more than just skin-deep.
"The response has been blowing our minds. More people have been coming out to all the shows and singing all the words to the new songs, and this album has by far had the most tattoos of the album art than ever before.
"So many people have the DSOL X tattooed on them, it is awesome! Nothing is more flattering than someone deciding to permanently put your band's name or image on their body. Makes me think we're doing something right with people getting behind this record so hard." Dead Set On Living saw Liam voicing his intention to move away from traditional 'hardcore' lyrics (although with songs like R.A.T.S. featuring words including 'I'm counting down the days; I'm counting down the days 'til every rat has burned', he's not in Taylor Swift territory quite yet).
"I always just try to keep what I write in Cancer Bats as fresh and as different as I can and to try and push myself as a lyricist. I just never want to fall into a cycle of writing negative and angry lyrics just because the song is heavy and dark," Liam explained.
The hardcore scene in Canada is pretty healthy at the moment, as Liam enthused: "The scene in Canada is going great right now - there's lots of bands from across the country who are making some amazing music. Bands like Bison BC and Baptist from the west coast holding down the sludge metal scene. For southern Ontario we've got awesome bands like Exalt, S.*.*.T., Single Mothers and tons of others making some great hardcore, and on the east coast there's bands like A Sight For Sewn Eyes, Death Valley Driver and S***Hawk playing some of the best Tech Metal, Stoner Rock and Power Violence I've heard in a while. It gets me really excited for the Canadian scene as a whole."
Pressed to reveal which crowds the band might secretly prefer playing to, Liam was giving nothing away: "We're so lucky to have awesome people that come out to our shows wherever we go.
"Whether we're in Canada, the UK or Europe, people show up for a good time, where we're all sweating, partying and losing our minds singing along and having a great time. I'm very biased, but I think we have the nicest fans out of any band."
Cancer Bats play at Sub89, Reading, on Wednesday, with support from Brutality Will Prevail and Empress. Tickets are £10 from www.sub89.com or www.seetickets.com
This article appeared in Bracknell News 14 Mar 13
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