Cancer Bats
Birthing The Giant

A typical example of an album for the few, this "Birthing The Giant".

Twelve tracks for a total of about forty-five minutes of a tight mix of hardcore, southern rock, and metal.

It starts off in fifth gear with "Golden Tanks" and continues with the pedal to the metal all the way to the concluding "Pneumonia Hawk" without ever - not even slowing down a bit, let alone stopping. The granite-like riffs follow one another relentlessly, supported by a drum that is not particularly frenzied but continues to pound in the forefront, and the melodic openings... well, there simply aren't any. The standout feature is the unique voice of the singer, not screamed but incredibly powerful and "angry," which helps make the sounds in the album even more aggressive.

Album for the few, as I was saying, in the sense that for fans of the genre, it is probably an album without flaws, while others will notice a slight (or even heavy, depending on tastes) repetitiveness of the offering, especially during the first listens. That said, even occasional listeners cannot help but be pleasantly overwhelmed by at least the best tracks on the album, "French Immersion" and "Butterscotch".