Toronto metallic hardcore (and I mean that: this is southern metal with hardcore energy) band Cancer Bats are now on album number five, Searching For Zero, and it is a massive disc full of Sabbatherian groove and trashy hardcore that should please metal fans no prob. Which is funny, because that's the community the band was most worried about in regards to reception of the album.

"Any hesitation we had was if the metal community would be like, 'This isn't as heavy as whatever else,' but the metal community, out of anyone, is into it," says vocalist Liam Cormier.

The disc isn't a huge departure from what the band has been laying down over the course of their career, particularly their last couple albums, but to these ears it has a bit more of a loose, fuck-you punk-rock vibe to it.

"Yeah, I definitely agree with that," says Cormier. "It has a lot more raw and stripped-down aggression that I think we maybe didn't even know was in these songs and it was really working with Ross Robinson (Slipknot, Kon), where he was just like, 'This is a raw-ass punk song, you have to play it like this,' and he would push all these elements out of us. So I think it did end up becoming more aggressive in the songs we maybe didn't expect."

Cormier says working with Robinson was "literally the best thing ever," pointing out how Robinson's endless enthusiasm meshed well with the band's own energy, but also how the famed metal producer helped Cancer Bats get some powerful performances on the album.

"Ross Robinson is like the ultimate stoked older brother, you know?" chuckles Cormier. "Just like, 'You guys are into skateboarding? You need to check this out! You're into metal? This is the best!' (laughs) Just so stoked about everything. He found out I rode motorcycles and was like, 'Oh my God! Moto is the best!' Like freaking out. And we're all super stoked, all the time, so it was like three weeks of non-stop losing our minds (laughs). Like, 'You like Trailer Park Boys? Fuck! Let's watch it all day, every day!' But at the same time being this really positive vegan down to earth dude. It was the best combo."

Robinson's take on producing led to one particularly... odd... moment of inspiration when the band was laying down some guitar tracks.

"Ross told us this really crazy story, where he said, 'Okay, you're going to play this riff right now because there's a kid that's going to listen to this and he's going to use this song to get psyched up to go and fight someone because his dad has told him if he doesn't beat up this kid, his dad will beat him up. So what do you think this kid wants to hear? Do you think he wants to hear you sitting in a chair and making sure you play every note perfectly, or do you think that kid wants to hear you destroying your guitar?' And there was no argument," says Cormier. "Ross told us that was a true story that he heard from someone else, that his dad told him he had to beat up some kid or he would beat him up when he got home from school, and this kid would go listen to Metallica to get psyched to get into fights. We were like, 'That is the most insane thing.' Ross was like 'That's what music is, man!' We were like 'Aaggh! That's so real!' (laughs)."

The album finds inspiration in a couple of places: there's a pronounced Sabbath sound in the tunes, which has always been part of the Cancer Bats experience, but Cormier admits that time spent playing Sabbath covers as Bat Sabbath, especially once they started playing more obscure Sab tunes, really was a huge influence on the band, and it shows on the disc (check out "Buds" for further proof of this). The other constant throughout the disc is a theme of fallen comrades.

"Yeah, 'Arsenic In The Year Of The Snake' is 100% about that, and just having that as a recurring thing that happened throughout the album. When Dave Brockie passed away, we had different lyrics written for 'All Hail', and even a different structure. When Dave passed away, I came up with all new lyrics before I even brought it to the dudes, and was like, 'Okay, this song's about Dave now.' And everyone was like, 'That's the best.' We played it once and were like, 'This is the best song ever.'"

(Photos by: Viktor Radics)