Cancer Bats – Give Me Dirt
Release Date: 7th August 2026
Label: Bat Skull Records/Marshall Records
It’s impossible to say Cancer Bats are back, they’ve simply (and thankfully) never gone away. Punk-metal’s hardest workers are releasing their 8th studio album Give Me Dirt, and per their already high standards, it’s a ripper. When they’re not touring as Bat Sabbath, a loving tribute to their inspiration Black Sabbath, Cancer Bats can usually be found on the road, having undertaken gruelling schedules for more than 20 years that have spanned the globe. The Toronto quartet have been a solid UK favourite for many of those years, regularly featuring on cornerstone UK festival bills such as Download, Reading and Leeds, 2000Trees and more.
Following up their highly acclaimed album Psychic Jailbreak was always going to be a challenge, but not an insurmountable one for the band. Vocalist Liam Cormier, via Marshall Records stated, “we are finally in a position to make the best album of our entire career”. Produced by Kurt Ballou (Converge, Every Time I Die, High On Fire), the album has been mixed to crisp perfection with everything perfectly balanced. The fuzzed tones on guitar and bass still cut through with Mike Peters’ trademark powerful backbeats and drum fills carrying each song like a thunderstorm. Album opener ‘World Wild Fire Death Race’, featuring Converge’s Nate Newton, is the perfect example of the above. Jackson Landry’s opening guitar riff, soon backed up by Peters and Jay Schwarzer’s bass power through without overshadowing the other.
Following an introspective year of travel, Cormier’s lyrics contain references to his journeys. Which are bedded by a connection to nature and a conscious effort to steer away from an ever disconnected and digital way of existence. Track ‘Don’t Trip’ is a reflection on this period of travel, on a motorbike between urban and rural spaces. It’s a continuous theme in Cormier’s lyrics that life is a journey to be cherished as he yells “even when the trip goes wrong, sit back and enjoy the ride”.
Give Me Dirt, is a headbanger from start to finish, between ‘Long Tooth’ featuring longtime collaborator Brooklyn Doran, and ‘Ocean Crash’ providing welcome dynamic changes without losing the album’s edge. Title track ‘Give Me Dirt’ is a particular stand out from the album, alongside ‘Prognosis’, bringing a real grittiness to the album which isn’t overruled by the clean production of the album.
Cancer Bats set out to make their best album yet, while fans from the start may debate this, the record is the culmination of years of effort, personal growth and musical evolving, and worthy of joining their best work to date. Give Me Dirt is an example of why Cancer Bats have been going so strong for so long and remain one of Canada’s finest hardcore exports.