TWENTY YEARS OF BIRTHING THE GIANT
A CONVERSATION WITH CANCER BATS’ LIAM CORMIER
Twenty years ago, Cancer Bats burst onto the scene of Southern Ontario with their influential debut album, Birthing The Giant. The album served as a strong impression for the band that have gone on to become hardcore titans and punk rock veterans. Looking back, lead vocalist and founding member, Liam Cormier, reflects on their seminal album and their upcoming cross-Canadian tour.
“It’s kinda crazy”, Cormier tells me, pausing, “it’s definitely crazy thinking that we’ve been around for 20 years… We all grew up being used to 20 years and 30 years being these old bands on the radio, but then you’d go on tour and meet all these hardcore bands and punk bands that are still touring, active, and doing the thing” Cormier is quick to celebrate the work ethic, music, and relevance of his contemporaries, citing Comeback Kid, Sick Of It All, Silverstein, and The Flatliners, adding “it’s cool to feel like we’re in that world with these non-stop road dogs.”
Since 2006, Cancer Bats have seemingly remained in a state of constant motion. Birthing The Giant, a title that feels prophetic to how big the band would get post-release, captures the energy of a band with a fully formed sonic identity. “We were at least 25 – 26 when we made this album. We had been in bands before; we had made way worse mistakes before we got to this point. It’s nice to go back and it rips and nothing’s too awkward” Cormier tells me. He continues to attribute this to a wide range of influences, “We had a really specific idea of what we wanted the band to be like. We felt like that sort of style was really missing from Southern-Ontario hardcore. We loved Cursed, we loved Every Time I Die, but we wanted to do it a little more punk. For Scott [Middleton, founding guitarist], he had all these influences, from Southern like Eyehategod, Down, and Acid Bath, all of these sort of Southern, New Orleans style bands. That cool focus I feel helped with what we were actively going for.” He continues, “Trying to have enough to fit into both worlds was the idea. Because we were such fans of everything. I was going to see Strike Anywhere and the next night, I would go see Darkest Hour. I wanted to sound like Converge, but I also wanted to sound like American Nightmare. Having all those elements got us excited about being in a band.” The result was a record that found balance between both modern hardcore and punk, giving the band a distinctive sound.
TOUR INFO AND TICKETS
Reflecting on the making of Birthing The Giant, Cormier credits producer Gavin Brown, who had previously worked with Billy Talent and Three Days Grace, for refining the band’s voice as songwriters. “He was able to help us focus the energy we had. I don’t think we really dialed in songwriting. We had these songs with a million different parts; they didn’t really have any start or end or chorus. It was kind of the charm of it, but I felt like Gavin helped us rein some of those things in.” An example of this would be “French Immersion,” which Cormier explains was originally significantly longer, “He literally cut up ‘French Immersion’ like ‘make ‘French Immersion’ just the meat and potatoes of the song’ which is super funny, because it’s such a straightforward hardcore song now, but the original was super long… There are a few moments like ‘Death Bros’, and now we probably would have shortened it.” Looking back, Cormier remains proud of their debut, “That’s the fun part; really listening front to back, sitting down with the whole thing and kind of being impressed in a way with how we were able to make a record as cool as it is in our twenties… In a nice way, going back and being reminded, like ‘100 Grand Canyon’, that song rips; ‘Grenades’, that song rips; ‘Golden Tanks’, that song rips… It’s cool that this record doesn’t have awkward moments.”
Two decades on, Cancer Bats are celebrating their seminal debut with a cross-Canada tour kicking off this week in St. Johns, Newfoundland, with a stop at Toronto’s Opera House on April 10. The band is promising a performance of Birthing The Giant in full, as Cormier puts it, “True to the record as everyone remembers it. I like playing it in that track listing, because 2006 was still an era where you’d take the CD, put it on in your car, and listen to the whole thing front to back.” Furthermore, the band is reissuing their first three albums on vinyl after long being out of print.
Listen to the full, unabridged conversation with Liam Cormier, including more on the making of Birthing The Giant, the story behind the album’s title and artwork, touring with Alexisonfire, and his desert island records, on episode 61 of Beats By Ger on Spotify and YouTube.
Tour Dates
April 02 – St. John’s, NL – The Rock House
April 03 – St John’s, NL – The Rock House – SOLD OUT
April 04 – Halifax, NS – Marquee Ballroom
April 05 – Moncton, NB – Tide & Boar
April 07 – Quebec City, QC – L’anti
April 08 – Ottawa, ON – Overflow Brewing Co
April 09 – Kingston, ON – The Broom Factory
April 10 – Toronto, ON – The Opera House
April 11 – Sudbury, ON – Headquarters
April 12 – Thunder Bay, ON – Black Pirates Pub – SOLD OUT
April 14 – Regina, SK – The Exchange
April 16 – Kelowna, BC – Metro Hub
April 17 – Vancouver, BC – The Pearl
April 18 – Victoria, BC – Capital Ballroom
April 20 – Nelson, BC – The Royal – SOLD OUT
April 21 – Fernie, BC – The Northern
April 22 – Calgary, AB – Arrowhead
April 23 – Edmonton, AB – Pawn Shop Live (formerly Union)
April 24 – Red Deer, AB – Bo’s Bar
April 25 – Saskatoon, SK – Coors Event Centre
May 8 – Winnipeg, MB – The Park Theatre – Manitoba MetalFest – SOLD OUT
May 16 – Montreal, QC – Pouzza Fest* ~ Please note that while the festival slot at Pouzza Fest doesn’t allow time to perform the full album, the band will deliver a hit-filled set featuring many of the fan favourites.
Tickets can be purchased HERE
Artist Links
Photo Credit: Derek Bremner | Background Illustration Credit: Alexandra Snelgrove
