3.5/ stars
Cancer Bats hail from Canada and have been shattering eardrums for some time now. Roping in Ross Robinson, who has worked with the likes of Slipknot, Sepultura and The Blood Brothers, ensures this fifth album is going for the jugular. From the outset, lead singer Liam Cormier sounds like a heavily tormented soul. So as ‘Satellites’ blasts off into the ether, current affairs,rigged politics and imperial blood sport are all issues that take turns to bludgeon the listener.‘Beelzebub’ is rightfully borderline metal as Cancer Bats forge melodrama from all their raw materials. ‘Devil’s Blood’is a torch song for their discovery of their metal perspective, but ‘Cursed With A Conscience’ sounds, heaven forbid, radio-friendly, building crescendo upon crescendo. By the time the final lick is dispensed with you would think the entire band would be in a coma.
The end result of engaging a gun producer is a slick product that acts like a thorn in pop’s side. Cancer Bats do not release their toxin into the bloodstream with any subtlety. Rather, like a surgical instrument, they pulverise the listener – and by the ending the record with ‘No More Bull Shit’, those who think Cancer Bats are a good thing may think they have pushed things a bit far.
You can only imagine the band’s delight if that were the widespread view.
