Cancer Bats

Cancer Bats are a Canadian hardcore punk band from Toronto, Ontario. They have released five studio albums and six extended plays. The band is composed of vocalist Liam Cormier, guitarist Scott Middleton, drummer Mike Peters and bassist Jaye R. Schwarzer. Cancer Bats take a wide variety of influences from heavy metal subgenres and fuse them into hardcore and punk rock, and also include elements of Southern rock. Their sound has thus been likened to sludge metal, as well as to that of metalcore bands such as Converge and Hatebreed. The members of Cancer Bats have also toured and recorded as a Black Sabbath cover band under the name Bat Sabbath.

History

Early years and Birthing the Giant (2004–2006)

Cancer Bats was founded in May 2004 by drummer Liam Cormier and guitarist Scott Middleton, a former member of Toronto heavy metal band At the Mercy of Inspiration. The two wanted to form a project that combined their favorite parts of bands like Entombed, Refused, Black Flag, Led Zeppelin and Down, among others. The lineup was completed with the addition of Andrew McCracken on bass and Joel Bath on drums, with Cormier moving to vocals. The four-piece wrote and recorded songs for a self-released demo that saw light in January 2005, and led to Canadian independent record label Distort Entertainment signing the band.

Cancer

Cancer, also known as a malignant tumor or malignant neoplasm, is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Not all tumors are cancerous; benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body. Possible signs and symptoms include: a new lump, abnormal bleeding, a prolonged cough, unexplained weight loss, and a change in bowel movements among others. While these symptoms may indicate cancer, they may also occur due to other issues. There are over 100 different known cancers that affect humans.

Tobacco use is the cause of about 22% of cancer deaths. Another 10% is due to obesity, a poor diet, lack of physical activity, and consumption of alcohol. Other factors include certain infections, exposure to ionizing radiation, and environmental pollutants. In the developing world nearly 20% of cancers are due to infections such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and human papillomavirus (HPV). These factors act, at least partly, by changing the genes of a cell. Typically many such genetic changes are required before cancer develops. Approximately 5–10% of cancers are due to genetic defects inherited from a person's parents. Cancer can be detected by certain signs and symptoms or screening tests. It is then typically further investigated by medical imaging and confirmed by biopsy.

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera (/kaɪˈrɒptərə/; from the Greek χείρ - cheir, "hand" and πτερόν - pteron, "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, can only glide for short distances. Bats do not flap their entire forelimbs, as birds do, but instead flap their spread-out digits, which are very long and covered with a thin membrane or patagium.

Bats are the second largest order of mammals (after the rodents), representing about 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide, with about 1,240 bat species divided into two suborders: the less specialized and largely fruit-eating megabats, or flying foxes, and the highly specialized and echolocating microbats. About 70% of bat species are insectivores. Most of the rest are frugivores, or fruit eaters. A few species, such as the fish-eating bat, feed from animals other than insects, with the vampire bats being hematophagous, or feeding on blood.

Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones

Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones is the third studio album by Canadian hardcore punk band Cancer Bats. In Canada, it was released on April 13, 2010 through Distort Entertainment. The name of the album derives from each of the members' personal nickname (Mike Peters – Bear; Scott Middleton – Mayor; Liam Cormier – Scraps; Jaye R. Schwarzer – Bones). The first single from the album was "Dead Wrong". A music video was previously made and released for "Sabotage" when it was released on the band's EP Sabotage. Pre-orders of the album included a limited bonus DVD consisting of 2 hours of live footage and the making of the album.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Liam Cormier, Scott Middleton, Mike Peters and Jaye R. Schwarzer. 

Personnel

References

Hail Destroyer

Hail Destroyer is Cancer Bats' second full-length album. It was released on April 22, 2008 by Distort Entertainment in Canada and on June 24, 2008 by Metal Blade Records in the US.

In 2009, Hail Destroyer was reissued in some regions with four bonus tracks (one new song and three cover songs) in addition to a DVD featuring live footage of the Cancer Bats. The bonus tracks were also released separately as an extended play dubbed the Tour EP on June 30, 2009. Videos were filmed for "Hail Destroyer", "Deathsmarch" and "Lucifer's Rocking Chair".

The title track was featured briefly in the 2009 sci-fi horror film Splice.

Track listing

Personnel