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By Corinne Love
By Corinne Love
Cancer Bats are excited! About its own band, that is.
On its debut disc, “Birthing the Giant,” the Toronto natives want to play hard, have fun and change the world – all in one listen.
Classified by post-hardcore music and metal, Cancer Bats represent everything good and bad with the genre.
Fast paced riffs? Check.
Clever song titles? Check.
Slick packaging? Check.
Screamo Vocals? Here and there.
Originality? A miss.
The album is solid, but so much of the material covered has already been exposed by other bands.
If you like Every Time I Die, Comeback Kid, or Alexisonfire, then Cancer Bats may be up your alley; everybody else–wait on this a bit.
Unlike the bands mentioned, Cancer Bats rarely move beyond creating chugging rock and the surface attitude of punk.
By blending metal with Southern rock, Cancer Bats wanted to create a sound that begs the listener to actively participate in whiskey rounds, brawl fights and good ole’ moshing.
Yet, the lyrics presuppose the already-been there done that atmosphere.
On “French Immersion” Liam Cormier sings “Let’s do this, yeah, this reckless life” and then the songs starts up feisty and rocking.
Yet there are more tracks like “French Immersion” on this album, likewise “Firecrack this,” “Ghost Bust That” and “Diamond Mines” all carry the torch of start a revolution, for revolutions sake.
When Cormier is not singing about starting revolutions, he’s singing about everything he hates.
On “Diamond Mines” he sneers “I’m so sick of these double crossers, being so sincere,” the lyric seems to show a side of the Cancer Bats that may be bitter about the scene.
Cormier’s hoarse vocals turn out anthem lyrics about starting this and doing that, but nothing really grabs the listener.
On this album, the Cancer Bats sound more excited to actually be recording than putting together a full organized album.
Just because Cancer Bats don’t revolutionize anything or create anything new does not mean “Birthing the Giant” is a waste of your money.
It is good party music and music that would suit well in the bar-brawl scene of a modern tough guy flick.
Regardless of its taste for originality, the Cancer Bats do a nice job of finishing post hardcore punk with a Neil Young influence.
The outcome of such a mix up brings about some of the finer points in the album.
The real issue with “Birthing the Giant,” is that after a couple listens, more is expected from Cancer Bats.
Getting a bunch of guys to play loud and sing about independence is nice; it would be nicer if the album honed in on what the Cancer Bats have to say when it’s not excited.
“Birthing the Giant” has too many aspirations but only follows through on some.
Swing and a miss.
