Cancer Bats' singer strengthens vocals through live shows
Music is guitar heavy, and a bit screamy-screamy. Ok maybe a lot.
After a mere week of rest and relaxation, the Cancer Bats are back on the road to do exactly what it is they do best: get up onstage in front of crowds of people to unleash the heaviest, hardest-hitting music they can muster. Locked and loaded with 12 blistering new tracks from Hail Destroyer, their newly released album, they'll perform across the country before heading overseas in mid-May.
Hail Destroyer, which debuted April 22, builds on the foundations formed by the band with their first release, Birthing the Giant. The band manages to faithfully maintain their heavy sound while deliberately avoiding being classified as any one genre. Lead vocalist Liam Cormier has his own explanation.
"The main thing is that we don't find ourselves subscribing to any genre or theme, we're such a crossover band that we hit on punk, metal, rock and hardcore. I feel like we fall somewhere in between all those themes, and it gives us a lot of freedom." It certainly does. Cancer Bats have shared the stage with the likes of Alexisonfire, Rise Against, and Comeback Kid, with the ability to play with bands as aggressive as Misery Signals or as rock 'n' roll as Attack in Black. It's no wonder they managed to book over 300 shows in the 18 months following their first album's release.
The band's dizzying array of shows has had a profound impact on their music, a distinct characteristic of Hail Destroyer.
"Through all those shows, my voice got a lot stronger and a lot heavier.
"We started recording the demos [for the new album] and the vocals were really screamy, so we reached a point where we had to decide whether we were going to stick with that or go back to what I was doing before. Scott, our guitarist, was laying down heavier guitar tracks, so we felt the screaming was more appropriate." Through all of these changes, the Cancer Bats never surrender their musical identity.
"We're all a lot older, and given the fact that we all range from 27-28 years of age, we're not really looking to impress anyone," he says. "We have more confidence than a lot of younger bands out there, so if some 14-year-old kid thinks we're all sellouts, we don't really give a shit. Being older has allowed us to set ourselves outside of that and be more musically diverse.
"Growing up, we all listened to bands like NOFX; that was our punk rock bible. But as we've gone on, we listen to everything from Every Time I Die! to Broken Social Scene." With Hail Destroyer, the Bats' seemingly endless touring schedule is kick starting once again. After an album release party at home in Toronto and several other shows in Ontario, they're headed East to rally support across New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia.
"It's one of our favourite places to tour, and I'm not just saying that," says Liam. "People are so appreciative, and there's a lot of great local support. We get just as stoked to see bands like Chara, The Letter Unfolds, and Rusted Dawn." For Cormier and the rest of the Bats, their first tour of the Maritimes left them with an unfamiliar sense of comfort.
"You can't get past East Coast hospitality; it took us all off guard," he says. "Coming from Toronto, we were very skeptical of everyone. Back home you don't pick people up because you think you're gonna get robbed, but then we come out to a place where people are actually nice. Everyone welcoming us into their homes is what we love about coming here."
If you want to be a part of that warm welcome, come out and see the Cancer Bats on tour at the Kinsmen Centre (Fredericton) on April 29, the Carleton Community Centre (Saint John) on April 30, or at Manhattan (Moncton) on May 2. More information is available on the band's website, www.haildestroyer.com.
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