Cancer Bats

Canada's punk underground still pulses with raw aggression thanks to Toronto's Cancer Bats, whose punishing sound fuses hardcore punk, metalcore, Southern rock, and sludge metal. Drawing from a broad array of influences such as Black Flag, Down, Led Zeppelin, Entombed, and Black Sabbath — a devotion that led them to tour Canada performing as the Sabbath cover project Bat Sabbath — the group surfaced in 2006 with the hard-hitting Birthing the Giant. Momentum built during the early 2010s, yielding Juno Award nominations for Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones in 2011 and Dead Set on Living in 2013, while later releases including The Spark That Moves in 2018 and Psychic Jailbreak in 2022 have kept the band prominent within Canada's hardcore community.

Singer Liam Cormier and guitarist Scott Middleton launched Cancer Bats in spring 2004 after collaborating earlier in the metal outfit At the Mercy of Inspiration; the pair sought a fresh endeavor that would push their music toward a heavier yet more stripped-down approach. Recruiting bassist Andrew McCracken and drummer Joel Bath, they cut a four-song demo sold at early 2005 shows; two pressings sold out before Tragicomedy Records reissued the material as a 7" vinyl EP.

Disillusioned with Bath after several months, the band installed Mike Peters on drums. Cancer Bats then toured relentlessly across Canada with occasional U.S. forays, sharing bills with many of the country's leading punk acts. Their debut full-length, Birthing the Giant, arrived in fall 2006 via Distort Entertainment in Canada, Abacus Records in the United States, and Hassle Records in the U.K., with identical track listings except for a reordered American sequence. Continued road work followed, highlighted by a major U.S. support slot for Billy Talent. McCracken departed amicably in 2007 to focus on his design business, prompting Jason Bailey — formerly of Shattered Realm and Figure Four — to join on bass. Hail Destroyer appeared in 2008, and after extensive time on the metal festival circuit the band delivered Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones in 2010.

Alongside their own songwriting, the musicians pursued a shared admiration for Black Sabbath through the informal formation of Bat Sabbath, a side project devoted exclusively to faithful Sabbath covers. That classic-metal affinity surfaced prominently on the 2012 album Dead Set on Living, especially in Cormier's maturing vocal delivery. Searching for Zero, the fifth album, was tracked amid intense personal strain marked by relentless touring schedules and multiple losses of close associates, an ordeal mirrored in the record's bleak, unyielding atmosphere. On April 20, 2018, Cancer Bats surprised listeners with the unannounced sixth studio album The Spark That Moves, issued through their own Bat Skull Records in tandem with New Damage. Co-founder and guitarist Scott Middleton exited in 2021 to prioritize personal life and production work, leaving the group to continue as a trio. Their seventh long-player, Psychic Jailbreak, followed the next year; produced with longtime collaborator JP Peters of Propagandhi, it featured guest vocals from indie folk singer Brooklyn Doran on the single "Hammering On."