Voices From Another Room: III: Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones by Cancer Bats

Released 13th, 2010 on Distort Entertainment.

February 2009 was an amazing month in my life. Mostly for two reasons: it was the lead up to the last semester of my college days, and I got to interview Thursday and Cancer Bats in the same day. Some kids dream that they will someday fly a plane or do surgery or maybe write a novel, I dreamt for a long time of interviewing and talking with Geoff Rickly from Thursday. Liam Cormier was a close second. What threw me off about both of these men is how open they were, they just talked and talked to me and my camera woman Shay. They look like hard dudes but Liam and Geoff are honestly just sweet dudes. The thing that sticks out though from both of their interviews is that they were both so smart, honest, and aggressive, but older. They still had the fire in their eyes to create music that makes kids mosh and think at the same time.

This is the overwhelming thought I had as I delved into III: Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones: Liam and his crew from Canada are older. They have been around for awhile and they obviously are older when you meet them and talk to them, however they shred and yelp, scream and pound better than most loud bands that are years younger than they are. From opener "Sleep This Way" to the album closer, a cover of seminal Beastie Boys track "Sabotage" the album just rips.

Liam screams, yelps, talks, sings and sometimes screeches through the tracks with a backing band that sounds like a mix between Pantera, Gallows, and some hints of the more straight ahead parts of the Blood Brothers. Guitarist Scott Middleton just rips the shit out of line after line with a proficiency that is rare for any person in any type of music. The drums ride back in the mix as does the bass to a certain extent but they are viciously there, one listen to "Sabotage" and you know.

Cancer Bats are not reinventing the wheel with this album. However, as with every good sports car or computer upgrade it comes with some wonderful new features. "Scared To Death" and "Trust No One" features Cormier speaking in some parts, slowing down and givin the tracks an uneasy but completely balanced feel. Lyrically this album is a little more claustrophobic and angry than previous albums but it is still distinctly positive, "In this life I want nothing, expect nothing but the truth I know I've found," Liam screams "Black Metal Bicycle" and you cannot help but want to scream along. The album has no guest stars but then again they are not really needed on an album that speeds this fast and is played this proficiently. Basically Cancer Bats took everything that was great about Hail Destroyer and added a few things that made the mix a little more dense and claustrophobic but still quintessentially Cancer Bats.

Cancer Bats proved once again why they are a band to be reckoned with, and this is the album that makes the general music scene appreciate that fact. Basically Cancer Bats rock harder and faster than most bands years younger than they are and have more fun. Above all that, Cancer Bats are just honest, they do not compromise their music to create more fans and do not have an agenda except to create blue collar rock with a metal edge. I can't really ask for too much more than that.

- Cancer Bats are heading out on tour this spring with Every Time I Die and Norma Jean. Below are two videos from my interview with Liam, the second one about made me wet my pants, seriously. Video shot and edited by Shay Bonnie, interview by Matthew Winters, shot at In The Venue behind the dumpster in Salt Lake City.