Everything’s bigger, better, louder, and a heck of a lot more brutal in the world of Toronto’s metal monoliths Cancer Bats. Armed with their latest release Searching for Zero, they’re out to rip the world apart one step at a time. We got to talk to Liam Cormier about the latest record, how it came to be and why he thought it would be a good idea to buy a shit ton of fire works for one of their videos.
What’s the meaning behind the album title Searching for Zero?
In 2013 we came off of a really tough year of things in our personal lives and also in the business of our band. We had close friends to the band pass away while we were on tour, our parent label closed its doors half way through our album cycle, just a lot of things to deal with all at once. But in the end we dealt with all of those things and went back to why we started this band in the first place, because we love being in a hardcore band, we love going on tour. Not just because its our jobs now, but because it makes sense to us. So with that we wrote this new album and looking back on all of that it made sense that this was a new starting point for us. All of that negativity was behind us and dealt with and now everything moving forward is a positive.
A lot of fans have said your recent singles released sound vastly different compared to your older material. Were you looking for a new approach for Searching for Zero or did it happen naturally?
I think it happened naturally. We all wanted to build on what we had done with our last record DSOL and not just follow it up with a part 2, so we really tried to push all of those ideas and really make something different from what we had in the past.
Searching for Zero is the first Cancer Bats album to be produced by Ross Robinson. What was it like working with him?
Ross is the best dude ever! He’s the most stoked dude we’ve been in a studio with and has such a crazy knowledge of how to work with bands and to draw the best performances out of everyone. He’s also been doing it for so long and worked with so many crazy bands that he knows all of these crazy tricks.
What are some of the best memories you’ve had from working with him?
I’ll always remember when we were live tracking the drums and all of us were in the drum room with Mikey playing live so we could get a serious vibe for the base of everything we were going to record and Ross was in this tiny room with us too and we’re all just going off while Mikey was playing. We’re head banging like were playing a show and Ross is moshing and throwing things because he’s so stoked and we’d finish a take and be laughing and high fiving just like we were playing a basement show. Ross is the master of all vibes.
In the video for “Satellites”, did any of the fireworks hit Mike Peters? Did anyone else get caught in the crossfire?
So many fireworks hit Mikey and that was the whole point. We had him decked out in motorcycle safety gear so he wouldn’t get hurt and then we just blasted him! No one got hurt in the making of the video but every single person on set got hit with fireworks. That’s what having a roman candle fight is all about!
Was there any particular meaning behind the video or was it just a good excuse to purchase as many fireworks as possible?
It was really just an excuse to have some fun! (laughs) We all grew up having roman candle fights and just going out to fields and setting off fire works. The summer before we shot that video I had bought a bunch of fire works for my friends wedding and the idea dawned on me “If I buy $1000 worth of fireworks we could probably make a whole video out of it” The best part was that I couldn’t even buy more than $700 cus I couldn’t fit any more in my car!
Cancer Bats – True Zero
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Why were “True Zero”, “Satellites” and “Arsenic in the Year of the Snake” released as singles, do you feel they’re the strongest from your upcoming album or are the rest of the songs going to blow us away?
That is just a taste of the bangers to come! We just felt like those 3 tracks gave an idea of where we were going with this album without giving too much away.
You’re hitting the road in March with Exalt, soon to be heading straight to Europe with While She Sleeps, Hundreth and Oathbreaker. How much are you looking forward to it? How would you say U.S. fans and crowds differ from European fans and crowds?
I think the kids themselves at shows don’t really vary from the US and Europe, when you play a packed show and kids are going off it doesn’t matter if your in Berlin, Prague or Orange County, Kids are just down to have a good time. I will say that our band is a little more popular in Europe, only because we’ve toured there more. We still get the love from ‘merica!
Would any of the crowds be lucky to have a secret Black Sabbath set?
I think we’ll still bust out some Sabbath here and there, I think once you get known for doing some covers people get really stoked to see it and I am alllllll good with that. I love Sabbath, I love that we cover the Beastie Boys, if we just added a Led Zeppelin cover that would be all of my favorite bands of all time so I would be fine with that.
The tour looks like it only has a few days off from the end of your US tour, and having a whole month of April in Europe. What gets the band prepared for what looks like a rigorous touring schedule?
I think the key is just diving right in and not letting your body rest at all so at the end your just made of rock from all of your tense and bettered muscles being fused together, then the day you get home and sleep for eight hours and you just fall apart! (laughs)
What can we expect to see from you in the future?
Now that this record is out we’re stoked to get back on the road and tour as many spots as we can! Got a lot of world out there to party in so well be busy crushing that for our unforseen future!
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by Connor Williams, RockRevolt Journalist
