Searching For Zero by Cancer Bats

Grizzly Canadian heavyweights Cancer Bats have been hidden away for God knows how long

creating their fifth studio album, Searching For Zero, and boy was it worth the wait! Liam, Scott, Jaye and Mike are known for their indisputably brash rock 'n' growl noise and this fifth installment in their discography is that turned up to 100.

The album opens with the previously released Satellites and not far behind it is Arsenic In The Year Of The Snake; two songs that have already gripped Cancer Bats fans by the scruff of their necks, riling them up. For further riling there's songs like All Hail which rattle your brain in your skull but in contrast there's Beelzebub which feels almost sultry in it's slow steadiness. Then there's Buds which feels like pure unadulterated rock 'n' roll where Liam's coarse vocals surround you like you're frolicking about in a bath of muddy glory. Album closer, No More Bull Shit, is thundering in it's entrance and feels anthemic in it's exit, sealing itself with a stamp of triumph. Searching for Zero is fun and mayhem galore but if there's one thing this album lacks it's an abundance of sing-a-long moments. They've been a staple throughout previous albums in songs such as Hail Destroyer and Bricks And Mortar, but Searching For Zero misses those in your face moments. Instead they're disguised in the likes of "need to remind myself of who I really am" from the powerful True Zero and chants of "world on fire" from the urgently pounding Devil's Blood.

"No More Bull Shit" feels an appropriate phrase for Searching For Zero: Cancer Bats mean business and that business is headbanging, thumping noise. It is awesome.

7/10

Listen to: Arsenic In The Year Of The Snake, Devil's Blood