Cancer Bats – Dead Set on Living

Some fans may be pleased to know that the slow-burning artiness of Cancer Bats' 2010 offering Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones is dropped for a slicker, more immediate approach on their fourth LP proper. This time around, there's a conscious decision to bring out more grooves; second single Road Sick seamlessly switches up speed-thrash in the chorus with rhythmical verses, but it never loses its stride. A tricky balance, surely, but they nail it all the same.

Vocalist Liam Cormier's intense snarl isn't his only weapon here either; he'll often ease himself into a dirty southern drawl before springing back into a full-on spitting assault. These swift dynamical changes (which fit in with the record's loose themes of contradiction and opposing forces) won't blow minds, but it's a formula that ultimately works in their favour, turning what would otherwise be a standard exercise in hard rock into something a little more thrilling.