On the phone while whipping his bike through Toronto traffic in an attempt to "get in as much bike time as possible" before departing for a lengthy European tour in less than 24 hours, Cancer Bats front-man Liam Cormier chats excitedly about the evolution his band has undergone since forming in 2004, morphing from an Entombed riff-worship machine into a eclectic hardcore powerhouse.
With Birthing The Giant, my voice was still getting figured out," he says. "Hail Destroyer was good, but we were scrambling to get the songs done so we could get back out on tour. I didn't want that to happen this time." With their third full-length, Bears, Mayors, Scraps, and Bones, Cancer Bats were afforded the time to develop each song before entering the studio, self-producing demos and spending more time on vocal arrangements, typically a last-minute studio addition to the band's guitar-heavy onslaught. The result is simultaneously Cancer Bats' most focused and adventurous effort yet.
With this album, we realized kids were up for as many different styles as we wanted," says Cormier. "We were nervous about that with Hail Destroyer, like, 'Is this song too metal? Is this one too stoner? What if this is too thrash?' But kids were appreciative of the differences." Embracing a wider sonic pallet while seeking to define a true Cancer Bats sound, the band has easily produced their first genuine touchstone. "I was like, 'This needs to be the best thing I've ever done.' It felt like kids gave us the go-ahead with the support that Hail Destroyer got," says Cormier. "So it was like, 'Fuck it, let's try as much crazy shit as we can. And have as much fun as we can.'"
With Birthing The Giant, my voice was still getting figured out," he says. "Hail Destroyer was good, but we were scrambling to get the songs done so we could get back out on tour. I didn't want that to happen this time." With their third full-length, Bears, Mayors, Scraps, and Bones, Cancer Bats were afforded the time to develop each song before entering the studio, self-producing demos and spending more time on vocal arrangements, typically a last-minute studio addition to the band's guitar-heavy onslaught. The result is simultaneously Cancer Bats' most focused and adventurous effort yet.
With this album, we realized kids were up for as many different styles as we wanted," says Cormier. "We were nervous about that with Hail Destroyer, like, 'Is this song too metal? Is this one too stoner? What if this is too thrash?' But kids were appreciative of the differences." Embracing a wider sonic pallet while seeking to define a true Cancer Bats sound, the band has easily produced their first genuine touchstone. "I was like, 'This needs to be the best thing I've ever done.' It felt like kids gave us the go-ahead with the support that Hail Destroyer got," says Cormier. "So it was like, 'Fuck it, let's try as much crazy shit as we can. And have as much fun as we can.'"
