Rammer

Sometimes the unexpected is a good thing. It leads one into the occasional moment of dumbfounded surprise. Such is the case with Toronto-based thrash metal quintet Rammer on this, their debut full-length. Trapped in the clutches of juvenile songwriting for many moons, the band suffered through quite a difficult time of striving to match intention with intensity on the majority of their early output: vinyl singles and CD-R handouts. However, with the unbridled ferocity and teeth-gnashing anger of Cancer, they haven’t just stepped into form, they’ve obliterated it. Channelling the frustrations and disgust of whatever it is metal dudes hate these days into a powerhouse of Slayer’s meticulous low-end rhythms, Cause of Death-era Obituary solos and a vocal delivery reminiscent of too many Marlborough nights, Cancer sets an amazingly high bar not only for Rammer, but for the genre as a whole.