With a sound incorporating equal parts Southern metal and modern hardcore, Canadaā€™s Cancer Bats have been a fearsome rock beast since their inception in 2004, but their second album ups the intensity and heaviness, in the process managing to surpass their impressive 2006 debut, Birthing The Giant.

Liam Cormierā€™s rabid vocals have increased in ferocity and throatiness this time out, escaping previous comparisons to Every Time I Dieā€™s Keith Buckley and creating a new benchmark. His performance challenges guest vocalists Ben Kowalewicz (from Billy Talent), Alexisonfireā€™s Wade MacNeil, and Tim McIlrath (Rise Against) to equal levels of intensity, and is one of the signature features of this release.

Guitarist Scott Middleton (who additionally recorded the bass parts on this album following the departure of Andrew McCracken) also hits harder than ever before, delivering plenty of incisive riffs (see the title track) and aggressive chugging grooves (Deathsmarch), as well as slightly more accessible hooks on occasion (Harem Of Scorpions).

The heaviness of this album is especially notable on the more deliberately paced likes of Bastardā€™s Waltz or scorching Luciferā€™s Rocking Chair. Make no mistake, these decelerations donā€™t reduce the impact or power of the band, but rather give Middleton the chance for precision riffing thatā€™s just as brutal as the frenzied battering of Sorceress, the hardcore shoutalong Let It Pour or the out-of-control insanity of Pray For Darkness.

With Hail Destroyer, Cancer Bats prove that sometimes you have to destroy to create.

Owen Heitmann

While Iā€™m a huge Less Than Jake fan, even Iā€™ll admit that 2006ā€™s In With The Out Crowd had more than its share of duds, and many of the winning tracks shied away from their trademark ska-punk style. Not knowing whether that album was to be an aberration or the start of a trend, I played GNV FLA with a sense of apprehension.

The atypically subdued opener City Of Gainesville had me wary, but my fears were unfounded, as it plays directly into the comfortingly breakneck blast The State Of Florida: the bandā€™s vintage sound is back.

The geographic theme doesnā€™t stop with those two song titles ā€“ the quintetā€™s hometown of Gainesville, Florida is a major recurring character in the lyrics throughout the album (hence its name). The record is also a tribute to their musical as well as physical roots: while their last three albums have featured the occasional ska song thrown out like a bone to appease older fans, this album is drenched in upstrokes and summery rhythms married with punk energy.

Co-lead vocalists Roger and Chris are full of passion on tracks like Handshake Meet Pokerface (a tribute to a motherā€™s sacrifices for her sons) and Abandon Ship (hopelessness has never sounded so upbeat), and Scott Klopfenstein from Reel Big Fish adds trumpet to the existing horn section of Buddy and JR throughout, drenching numbers such as the frenetic Summon Monsters in brass. The opening gambit of using a quiet song to to lead into a louder one is repeated with the seamless transition from The Life Of The Party Has Left The Building to Devil In My DNA, but apart from those exceptions the album is raucous and fast all the way through. Golden Age Of My Negative Ways is short but razor sharp and catchy as hell; however, my pick of the litter is the euphoric Conviction Notice with its irrepressible ā€?na na na naā€¯ chorus.

My first reaction was that this was a return to form. After repeated listens, Iā€™ll go further: Iā€™d recommend this to an LTJ newcomer as much as their previous career best, 1998ā€™s classic Hello Rockview.

Owen Heitmann

Thankfully bucking their trend of having horribly gimmicky joke songs as singles (Pretty Fly [For A White Guy], Original Prankster, Hit That), the first cut released from Orange County punk band The Offspringā€™s 2008 album has been their hardest-hitting single in nearly a decade: the punchy Hammerhead races along like the bandā€™s best for two-thirds of its nearly five minutes before taking a twist, changing tempo and rhythm for a strong finish.

Itā€™s almost symbolic of the whole album. Much of the record is familiar: Trust In You is vintage Offspring (so much so that it sounds a little too close to the title track from their highwater mark, 1994ā€™s Smash), and Takes Me Nowhere and Rise And Fall also showcase their typical chugging guitar riffs and catchy melodies. However, there are a few twists: Youā€™re Gonna Go Far, Kid incorporates dance-rock influences into their trademark sound, and Letā€™s Hear It For Rock Bottomā€™s verses recall The Police. Slower-paced stadium rocker A Lot Like Me may be in a very similar vein to Ixnay On The Hombreā€™s Gone Away, but the band take a step further into true ballad territory with piano-embellished Fix You and the well-intentioned but saccharine Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?

While recognisable as the same band many of their fans have grown up with, Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace finds The Offspring growing up a bit themselves, as evidenced by the lack of novelty tracks (although it might be kinder to call Stuff Is Messed Up a joke than take it seriously, given its glib response to social and environmental problems, ā€?Shit is fucked upā€¯). Theyā€™re still having fun though, as Letā€™s Hear It For Rock Bottomā€™s exuberant chorus testifies.

While flawed, and (naturally) no match for Smash, this is still the strongest Offspring album since 1998ā€™s Americana.

Owen Heitmann.