Canadian hardcore punk scallywags Cancer Bats return with their eagerly awaited third album “Bears, Mayors, Scraps and Bones”. Their first two releases “Birthing the Giant” and “Hail Destroyer” were nothing short of monstrous, so “Bears, Mayors, Scraps and Bones” had a lot to live up to. From the first play it is clearly obvious that they have not only succeeded in matching the previous albums’ song writing and ferocity but they have surpassed it!
Whilst ‘Sleep This Away’ isn’t the face ripping behemoth beginning that is ‘Hail Destroyer’, “Bears, Mayors, Scraps and Bones” has a more subtle undertone, kind of ‘I’m gonna slowly rip off your head, then gently shit down your neck’. If that doesn’t quite have the desired effect then ‘Trust No One’ really will rip your face off and leave you begging for mercy! Cancer Bats mean business and by business I mean they intend to aurally violate you in the most satisfying way possible…
The dirty southern drawl is still very much in evidence through the powerful ‘Doomed To Fail’, ‘Black Metal Bicycle’ and ‘Darkness’, all to which you’ll be unconsciously banging your head. The anthemic ‘We Are The Undead’ has circle pit written all over it, and the relentless, bruiser of a track ‘Scared to death’ will leave you sobbing in the corner of the room! Man-up for christ sake…
There is simply no let up in the ferocity of “Bears, Mayors, Scraps and Bones”, ‘Snake Mountain’ grabs you by the testicles and repeatedly swings you over its head for almost 3 minutes and only lets go when ‘Make Amends’ takes over and slams you to the floor and proceeds to trample you into the shagpile! As a respite ‘Fake Gold’ will tie you to the front of its car and drive as fast as it can into the nearest wall, reversing a couple of times to emphasise the effect… the car keys are then tossed to ‘Drive This Stake’ that will proceed to cruise around the city at full speed with you clinging to the hood for dear life!
‘Raised Right’ will pick you off the floor, sit you down and give you a drink of water… before, the sensational Beastie Boys cover, ‘Sabotage’ steals your beer, your wallet, your girlfriend and sweeps the chair from under you, not before leaving you with one last kick to the groin, then leaves the room pointing and laughing…
Listening to “Bears, Mayors, Scraps and Bones” has left me in a bloody pulp on the floor but I couldn’t be happier… Cancer Bats will be HUGE in 2010 and I for one will be right at the front for their appearance at the Download festival in June.
