CANCER BATS Release New Album “Give Me Dirt”; Watch The Official Video For The Title Track
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Cancer Bats, the Canadian hardcore punk heavyweights, have released their highly anticipated 8th studio album, "Give Me Dirt", today via Bat Skull Records/Marshall Records. Listen HERE.
Ahead of the album’s release, Cancer Bats unleashed two powerful singles: the sludgey metal anthem “Stay Stuck” and the infectiously positive “Long Tooth”. Today, the band unveils the official music video for focus track “Give Me Dirt”. Directed by Mitch Barnes, the video for the title track can be viewed BELOW.
“With this being a more serious song, we wanted the video to feel as raw and gritty as our live shows” shares lead vocalist Liam Cormier. “We also wanted to showcase the DIY spirit that is at the core of who we are. We’re a very hands-on band, and it was important for that authenticity to come through on screen. Mitch and his crew really captured that energy and brought our vision to life”.
Produced by legendary metal producer Kurt Ballou (Converge, Kvelertak, High On Fire, Every Time I Die) and Zach Weeks at God City Studios in Salem, Massachusetts, with vocals recorded by Ian Romano (The Outfit, PigPen, Ancient Shapes) at Camera Varda Studios in Welland, Ontario, Give Me Dirt, finds Cancer Bats at their most sonically adventurous and inspired.
As with their earlier work, the music on "Give Me Dirt" came together organically, with all four members jamming in the same room. One key lesson the band carried over from their last album was that the real magic happens when everyone is fully collaborating. Once the riffs, breakdowns, and grooves were locked in, lead vocalist Liam Cormier returned to rural Nova Scotia to craft the lyrics and vocal hooks. Many of the songs took shape on dusty forest roads, along winding dirt bike trails, and while brewing campfire coffee on secluded North Shore beaches.
Inspired by a year of travel, "Give Me Dirt" unfolds as both an outward and inward journey. Throughout the record, thematically there is a deep connection to nature, from leaving urban life behind for the forest to aid in processing a loss Cormier experienced in the deeply personal track “Oceans Crash” to confronting the haunting weight of devastating wildfires in “World Wild Fire Death Race”. Along the way, Cormier reflects on lessons drawn from plants, sunlight and the natural world on tracks like “Bright Eyes of Gold” which features Chris Cresswell from The Flatliners on guest vocals.
Motorcycle travel forms another central thread on "Give Me Dirt". Songs like “Don't Trip” explore the lessons learned while riding through some of nature's harshest conditions in the Canadian Rockies, while the album’s title track was inspired by a motorcycle journey that Cormier took in the mountains of Nepal. Returning just a week before the band entered the studio to record, Cormier channelled his experience into the lyrics of the title track, capturing the spiritual sentiment that he witnessed in the mountains and the conversations he encountered along the way. Similar sentiments can be found in the standout single, “Long Tooth” featuring Brooklyn Doran, with lyrics of a more practical spiritual approach, a “Be Here Now” message over an upbeat fuzzed delivery.
The overarching theme of returning to nature and re-connecting with the physical world also provided inspiration for the album's artwork. Instead of using digital tools, Cormier created a giant 4-foot by 8-foot mixed-media painting for the front and back covers. Using materials like paint, paper, stencils and drywall mud, he incorporated whatever he could get his hands on to build a large-scale, tactile piece. A second artwork of similar size was created for the liner notes featuring handwritten lyrics, collages, and similar paints and stencils used on the cover.
Cormier explains his motivation, “So many people I find are so sick of AI these days and all things that look too polished. I wanted the artwork to capture the energy of the album but also represent us as a band; we are rough and dirty, our sound is loud and a mix of so many influences. Making art like this felt like such a good visual representation of not only the songs, but also Cancer Bats ourselves”.
"Give Me Dirt" Track Listing
01. World Wild Fire Death Race (feat. Nate Newton)
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