Album review: Cancer Bats – Hail Destroyer

From the ferocious chugging riff and throat-tearing vocals that introduce Hail Destroyer, you might easily assume that Cancer Bats hail from Texas rather than Toronto; the tone and heft of the guitar work owes everything to the Southern metal style.

But it’s not long before the difference becomes plain – the rhythms that drive Cancer Bats‘ music are pure hardcore punk, with tight fast breakbeats and solid thunder from the bass backing up the simple power of the chords. The two genres have been mixed before with varying degrees of success, but Hail Destroyer hits the balance point that I’ve found the others lack.

It’s a best-of-both-worlds thing. The channelled anger of New York Hardcore without the violent street-tough braggadocio; the low-slung groove of Southern sludge without the obsessive fret-board worship. Hooks and heaviness; technical skill and accessibility. Cancer Bats have nailed something very important here – Hail Destroyer will be one of those albums that inspires thousands of new young bands to form.

And those bands, rather than obsessing about their sweep-picking skills or their scene credentials, will focus on writing songs. Songs with melodies, catchy choruses and arse-shaking grooves; songs that grab you by the earlobe from the get-go and drag you into the pit with a grin on your face and some fire in your gut. Songs that make you want to rush home and play guitar until your fingers are sore and bleeding, your amp cranked loud to drown out the neighbours hammering on the walls …

Ahem. So, yeah – Hail Destroyer is a pretty immediate album, and remarkably unpretentious. Cancer Bats tread a very careful line, and I can never be quite sure from one moment to the next whether they’re taking the piss or paying homage. I think it’s more than possible they’re doing both – it would explain the simultaneous sound of commitment and fun that leaks out of these twelve tracks. As Liam Cormier sings in the delightfully titled “Lucifer’s Rocking Chair”, Cancer Bats “just keep it brutal”.

And I really can’t pick out a runt from the litter. I repeat: Hail Destroyer has no filler tracks, and while Cancer Bats have a distinct sound of their own they’re not just repeating the same formula time after time. Songs like “Regret” lean more toward the metal side of the equation with frantic drop-tuned riffing, while “Let It Pour” feeds on that primal hardcore bounce for its central sonic theme, but the overall impression is that of a new hybrid sound – the first viable organism in a long line of semi-successful experiments.

I don’t care how over-enthusiastic I sound, because I’m calling it how I hear it – Hail Destroyer is an easy candidate for the best metal album I’ve heard so far this year, and I’d put good money on Cancer Bats becoming a much bigger name in the near future. Go get this album as soon as you get the chance.

Oh yeah – and play it fucking loud.