Psychic Jailbreak

Canadian hardcore band Cancer Bats continue a winning streak with their seventh studio album, Psychic Jailbreak.

One of the great things about the Heavy Montreal festival is, coming from the states, you get to see a lot of bands that don’t always play at the US festivals. I saw Cancer Bats there for the first time in 2019 (I put a couple photos from that show at the bottom of the article). They were fantastic, and I have had an eye out for them ever since. As a result, I was pretty excited when I heard they had a new album on the way.

The band had a steady line-up of Jaye Schwarzer, Liam Cormier, Mike Peters, and Scott Middleton for more than a decade. Just last year, Middleton exited the band and the remaining three have continued on. Over the years they have released six previous studio albums, the most recent being 2018’s The Spark That Moves. Cancer Bats’ music is almost always labeled hardcore, and that fits. You will find as you listen all manners and shades – fast, slow, heavy, light, and dark. There is a corridor in their music for all types of heavy music fan.

The new album has eleven churning tracks, cracking the egg on “Radiate.” It is a stomper, driving the idea into your head with delectable repetition and a short pointed lead break toward the end. Do your stretches before this one because it will get you going. “The Hoof” follows and ramps the tempo up even higher. This is an early keeper. I love the driving force of it and the plunging inertia it creates.

“Lonely Bong” has a lot of plays on Spotify, as does the title track. The bong song is a trooper and a metric ton of fun to bounce around with. “Psychic Jailbreak” has a more serious tone to it, and more apparent aggression in the riffs and vocalizations. It is a menacing creeper toward the finish and definitely memorable – just the kind of song you want to go out on.

Other stand-outs for me are “Hammering On,” which is a laid back number with a big pounce to go along with the impressive vocals, and “Shadow Of Mercury” because of its straight-head clobbering approach to musical construction. “Pressure Mind” and “Rolling Threes” is a tasty pairing, too. They are the kind of songs you want to hear in the second half that keep the pace, energy, and inventiveness hitting hard as you roll toward the finish. This new Cancer Bats album delivers the goods. Recommended.

Psychic Jailbreak is out now through New Damage Records. Check out the links below.

Band photo by Sid Tang.

Links.

Website, https://www.cancerbats.com/

Bandcamp, https://cancerbats.bandcamp.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/cancerbats

New Damage Records, http://newdamagerecords.com/