All Hail tears through the speakers with sphincter-tightening ferocity. “Fuck me! That was nasty,” you cry. Two thirds of the way through their fifth LP, ‘Searching For Zero’, Cancer Bats are unhinged, dangerous and brutally beautiful.
Unfortunately, the rest of the album is a frustrating affair. This is the band that brought us the hardcore gem ‘Hail Destroyer’, but on occasions they just seem a little lost for ideas in 2015.
Satellites, the opener, finds the Canadian bruisers chugging through a Cancer Bats-by-numbers verse before launching into an anthemic, tailor-made-for-the-live-circuit chorus. A predictable flurry of gang vocals ensures that it’s good. But it’s too safe.
‘Dead Set On Living’ fed from their Bat Sabbath persona and that continues to seep into ‘Searching For Zero’. Beelzebub’s drawn-out guitar intro is pure Sabbath, while the rest of the album deals primarily in mid-tempo, brooding heaviness.
For a band who made their name through frenetic riffing and punk meddling, most of the tunes on ‘Searching For Zero’ take the doom mentality too far, becoming bloated in the process. That’s not to say it’s without its moments, though. This is Cancer Bats, after all.
Guitarist Scott Middleton leaves his cheeky pinch harmonics all over the shop, giving the title track, among others, an extra kick up the arse. His leads are heroic, while the melodious crescendo he produces to close Cursed With A Conscience is one of the finest he’s churned out to date.
And then we have the band’s trump card: Liam Cormier. Always one to wear heart on sleeve, his vocals here are a waterfall of pain. He ends Arsenic In The Year Of The Snake with a twisted scream: “Too many friends died this year.” Anyone questioning his authenticity can fuck right off.
Producer Ross Robinson’s input seems less extreme on ‘Searching For Zero’ than we might have expected. Cormier’s vocals are drenched with emotion, yes, but have you heard Scared To Death, the ode to his wife on ‘Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones’? That is what this album needs.
Robinson does succeed in capturing the essence of the Bats’ output, though. He may not be shepherding them into anything revolutionary, but he’s matched the nature of this beast with equally nasty production values. Sludgy, doom-laden riffs are tied up in the sort of refreshingly raw concoction that Eyehategod wouldn’t say no to.
At least a third of these tracks will make for exemplary live cuts, because Cancer Bats remain one of the most chaotic, brilliant live forces on the planet. But it seems that, for the first time in their career, the Bats might be digging for gold in the wrong places.
Cancer Bats Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed April 22 2015 - BIRMINGHAM Institute
Thu April 23 2015 - MANCHESTER Ritz
Fri April 24 2015 - NORWICH UEA
Tue April 28 2015 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Northumbria University
Wed April 29 2015 - GLASGOW O2 ABC
Thu April 30 2015 - LONDON Forum
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