With 17 years under their belt including 5 Juno Award nominations, Canadian hardcore punk heavyweights, Cancer Bats are a well-known force within the world of heavy music. On their seventh studio album, PSYCHIC JAILBREAK, the beloved metal stalwarts found themselves once again stepping into new territory as a band, writing and recording as a three-piece following the departure of founding member and guitarist Scott Middleton.
Once again enlisting the watchful eyes and ears of producer JP Peters (Propagandhi) at his studio Private Ear in Winnipeg, MB, they were looking to step up their game on their latest record and were eager to push beyond what they had achieved on their last studio album, The Spark That Moves.
Over the next three weeks, Cormier, Schwarzer and Peters saw their rough ideas exchanged in emails evolve from Garage Band home demos into thundering Cancer Bats songs. Mike’s signature power house of drums laid the foundation, as track after track of Jaye’s guitars were layered on top of another, all while they referenced their favourite Metallica and White Zombie guitar tones. All of this fuelling Cormier’s vocal fire, inspiring him to fully push what he had to offer both in lyrics and screams.