With a sound incorporating equal parts Southern metal and modern hardcore, Canada’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 Cormier’s rabid vocals have increased in ferocity and throatiness this time out, escaping previous comparisons to Every Time I Die’s Keith Buckley and creating a new benchmark. His performance challenges guest vocalists Ben Kowalewicz (from Billy Talent), Alexisonfire’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 Bastard’s Waltz or scorching Lucifer’s Rocking Chair. Make no mistake, these decelerations don’t reduce the impact or power of the band, but rather give Middleton the chance for precision riffing that’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