This week I’m staying with the vibe of hardcore punk and go with the Canadian rockers, Cancer Bats and one of their bonus tracks of the latest re-release of ‘Dead Set On Living’. The original album I thought kinda lacked, it seemed to go down the route of more pure metal and lost what attracted me to the Bats from the start, which was their punk edge. When the album was re-released a few months later though, they added a bunch of new tracks (as well as a haul of Black Sabbath covers under their alter-ego band Bat Sabbath) and these tracks really pulled back this punk edge, and seemed to be packed full of the hardcore feeling the tracks on ‘Hail Destroyer’ had. The one stand-out of all of these extra tracks has to be “Sonic Mind Assault”, a song that seems to call-back to the days of ‘Birthing The Giant’.
Like I said, this track does seem like it comes from a different vein than the majority of ‘Dead Set On Living’, this one sounds more akin to what we heard on early albums like ‘Birthing The Giant’ and ‘Hail Destroyer’; faster and louder tracks as opposed to longer and more metal-sounding riffs. The most note-worthy thing about “Sonic…” is the fact that it doesn't even hit the 2 minute mark (heck it barely hits the 100 second mark) making it the shortest Cancer Bats track since “Pray For Darkness” from the ‘Hail Destroyer’ album.
The track starts off with some sludgy as hell guitar riffs, and dives straight into the vocals from there, showcasing frontman Liam Cormier’s screaming abilities more so than any other song has ever; these screams are visceral and come straight from the pit of a dark-man’s soul. I personally have never heard Liam scream with so much fury for such a length of time ever, he literally keeps it up for virtually the entire song, that’s some feat for anyone!
Instrumentally the song is chaotic; crashes and bangs, drum smashes and guitar thrashes, this song sounds like a car-wreck. I don’t mean that in a bad way either, it complements the screams of Cormier perfectly - you could even say that it justifies the out of character guttural vocals.
The instrumentals are also so damn fast, so fast that the song finishes before the listener even has a chance to totally get into it; everything is 110 miles per hour in it, loud and fast! This could be a bad thing for people that aren’t used to this style of song (I suppose we can call it the Ramones-style), but for those that are into it and understand it, damn are you gonna love it and just eat it up again and again. The main background melody is incredibly groovy too, guitarist Scott Middleton really keeps this tune going and creates somewhat of a backbone for the entire song with this repeating line. Also, I don’t know if it’s just me, if it’s deliberate or even just my speakers but this line really does sound louder than everything in the song; if it was a mixing thing or whatever, I don’t know it just seems like this line really does take center-stage. Another thing that’s pretty interesting is that there’s no real breakdown, for a hardcore song that’s strange, but then again for a song that really does travel at lightspeed it’s understandable.
“Sonic…” has actually gone on to become something of a fan favourite track, already making its way into the bands regular gig setlist, which is pretty rare these days for a band to include a b-side into their show’s set. One of the biggest contributors to the quick assentation to popularity this song has taken on is the music video that was created by bass player Jaye Schwarzer, a short (obviously) video made up of classic horror movie clips and stock footage. It’s weird, creepy and suits the song down to a T. I’m no film student (game student actually) but the quick cuts really do aid the song, even making the song seem MORE frantic if it’s even possible – Jaye really did create a great video here, not only does it do what a music is supposed to, which is to be addition to the song (not making the song secondary), but it’s also clearly worked as a great marketing tool as well.
This song, though not being an official single or even an original album track has seemed to grow to be one of Cancer Bats most loved jams. It pulls in all the forces of a Cancer Bats song, hell in a way its Cancer Bats condensed and stripped down to what they have always been and what every song they record will ever be; it’s loud and it’s chaotic. You can add on length, you can add on solos and you can add in guest vocals but in the end Cancer Bats will always be a fast hardcore punk band and this song demonstrates this so damn well.
Right now Cancer Bats are raging through their own country of Canada, touring like they always are, if you’re a fan of the band or even if you've just discovered them because of this review and song, believe me you’ll have the opportunity to see them soon enough, and I suggest that you do; their live shows are second to very VERY few and you’ll always have a good time.
Until next time: Peace!
“Sonic Death Assault” is available at the link below from iTunes, however as always you can get the track at pretty much anywhere that sells anything. You can obviously also buy it on CD - the Deluxe Edition of 'Dead Set On Living' is out now, so get a hold of it if you like physical stuff.
If anyone is interested in taking the reigns for next week or any week, hit me up on the Facebook page.
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