Artist: Cancer Bats
Album: Give Me Dirt
Genre: Hardcore Punk / Sludge Metal / Metalcore
Release: 7 August 2026
Tracks: 11
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸 5/5 Guitars
Twenty years into their career, Cancer Bats aren’t interested in cleaning themselves up.
Thank bloody Satan for that. 🤘
Give Me Dirt, the Canadian bruisers’ eighth studio album, is exactly the sort of filthy, riff-soaked, sweat-dripping monster its title promises. It’s hardcore punk dragged backwards through sludge metal, rolled around in some Sabbath-sized grooves and then fired directly through a battered amplifier.
Produced by Kurt Ballou, Give Me Dirt sounds absolutely MASSIVE without losing the grit that’s always made Cancer Bats such a compelling proposition.
There are riffs everywhere.
Big riffs.
Fast riffs.
Slow riffs.
Riffs that sound like they should require planning permission.
And sitting right in the middle of the chaos is Liam Cormier, still roaring like someone has just told him the bar shut ten minutes early.
Absolute scenes.
💿 Track Listing
- World Wild Fire Death Race (feat. Nate Newton)
- Stay Stuck
- Don’t Trip
- Bright Eyes of Gold (feat. Chris Cresswell)
- Give Me Dirt
- Long Tooth (feat. Brooklyn Doran)
- Speed Wizard
- Ocean Crash
- Positive Grid
- Prognosis
- Fools Like You (feat. Efrem Schulz)
🦇 Track-by-Track Review
1. World Wild Fire Death Race (feat. Nate Newton)
What an absolutely ridiculous way to start an album.
Featuring Nate Newton, World Wild Fire Death Race launches proceedings with all the subtlety of somebody driving a bulldozer through your living room.
Cormier sounds possessed, the guitars are enormous and the rhythm section pounds away underneath everything.
There’s no gentle introduction.
No atmospheric two-minute build.
Just BANG.
Welcome back, Cancer Bats.
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
2. Stay Stuck
This is where things get seriously groovy.
Stay Stuck combines the band’s hardcore aggression with that unmistakable sludge-metal stomp they’ve perfected over the years.
It’s heavy without relying purely on speed, allowing the riffs enough space to really land.
And they land HARD.
You can already imagine this one causing absolute carnage in sweaty venues.
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
3. Don’t Trip
Another filthy riff enters the building.
Don’t Trip demonstrates exactly why Cancer Bats have remained such a consistently entertaining band: they understand groove.
Yes, they’re heavy.
Yes, they’re aggressive.
But underneath everything there’s always something you can move to.
Headbang.
Jump.
Start a pit.
Accidentally spill your pint.
Dealer’s choice.
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
4. Bright Eyes of Gold (feat. Chris Cresswell)
The appearance of Chris Cresswell brings another flavour to the album.
There’s a slightly more melodic dimension here without Cancer Bats suddenly deciding they’re auditioning for Eurovision.
The contrast works brilliantly.
Heavy when it needs to be, melodic when it benefits the song and packed with genuine emotion.
One of the record’s highlights.
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
5. Give Me Dirt
Here’s the title track.
And yes.
It’s filthy.
Absolutely bloody filthy.
The guitars sound like they’ve been stored underneath a festival toilet since 2007.
There’s a massive groove running through the whole thing, while Cormier’s vocals add another layer of controlled chaos.
If you wanted one track to explain what Cancer Bats are about, this would do the job nicely.
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
6. Long Tooth (feat. Brooklyn Doran)
One of the album’s most intriguing collaborations.
Brooklyn Doran brings an additional texture to Long Tooth, allowing Cancer Bats to explore something slightly different without sacrificing their identity.
The contrast between melody and aggression works superbly.
It’s atmospheric.
It’s emotional.
And then it punches you in the face again.
Lovely.
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
7. Speed Wizard
Come on.
A Cancer Bats song called Speed Wizard.
You already know what’s happening here. 😂🤘
This is pure acceleration.
Punk energy collides with dirty metal riffs as the band tear through one of the album’s most frantic moments.
Put this into the live set and watch the pit spontaneously develop its own weather system.
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
8. Ocean Crash
Things become slightly more atmospheric here.
Notice we said slightly.
Cancer Bats haven’t suddenly started making whale noises over ambient synthesizers.
Instead, Ocean Crash lets the riffs breathe, creating an almost hypnotic heaviness before everything starts collapsing around you again.
A welcome change of pace.
🎸🎸🎸🎸
9. Positive Grid
Groove.
Groove.
And then some more groove.
Positive Grid has an infectious bounce underneath its aggression that makes standing still virtually impossible.
It’s exactly the kind of song that translates brilliantly into the live environment.
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
10. Prognosis
There’s a darker atmosphere hanging over Prognosis.
The guitars become increasingly oppressive while Cormier delivers another ferocious vocal performance.
But despite the weight of everything happening, there’s still a hook buried underneath the carnage.
That’s one of Cancer Bats’ greatest strengths.
They can beat you around the head with riffs without forgetting they’re actually writing songs.
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
11. Fools Like You (feat. Efrem Schulz)
Featuring Efrem Schulz, Fools Like You closes the record exactly how it should.
LOUDLY.
It’s frantic, aggressive and completely unapologetic.
Rather than gradually winding things down, Cancer Bats seemingly decide to empty whatever ammunition remains.
Then—
Done.
Eleven tracks.
No unnecessary filler.
No twenty-minute prog epic about a wizard discovering himself.
Just riffs.
Beautiful, horrible riffs.
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
🔥 The Breakdown
🎤 Vocals
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
Liam Cormier remains one of hardcore’s most instantly recognisable voices. Twenty years into the band’s existence, he still sounds absolutely furious.
🎸 Guitars
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
Disgustingly heavy guitar tones dominate the album.
Precisely as nature intended.
🥁 Rhythm Section
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
Thunderous but incredibly groovy. The rhythm section keeps everything moving even when the guitars are attempting to flatten buildings.
🎧 Production
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
Kurt Ballou proves to be an excellent fit. The record sounds enormous without becoming overly polished.
✍️ Songwriting
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
Compact, direct and surprisingly varied. The guest appearances add different flavours while the album remains unmistakably Cancer Bats.
🏆 Standout Tracks
🔥 Stay Stuck
🔥 Give Me Dirt
🔥 World Wild Fire Death Race
🔥 Long Tooth
🔥 Speed Wizard
🤘 The Riff Report Verdict
Twenty years.
Eight albums.
And Cancer Bats still sound like they’re trying to knock holes through venue walls.
Give Me Dirt isn’t some nostalgic attempt to recreate the band’s early years. There’s enough of the classic Cancer Bats DNA here to keep longtime fans happy, but the album sounds alive, hungry and completely rooted in the present.
That’s important.
The guest appearances bring additional character without turning the record into a revolving-door collaboration album, while Kurt Ballou’s production gives the whole thing enormous weight.
But ultimately, the reason Give Me Dirt works is much simpler.
The riffs are bloody brilliant.
Cancer Bats have always existed somewhere between hardcore punk, sludge metal and straight-up rock ‘n’ roll, and Give Me Dirt gleefully rolls around in all three.
It’s angry without becoming exhausting.
Heavy without becoming monotonous.
Dirty without needing a tetanus jab.
Probably.
And after two decades of making this glorious racket, Cancer Bats still sound like four mates having the absolute time of their lives making ridiculously heavy music.
That’s something worth celebrating.
THE RIFF REPORT RATING
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
5/5 GUITARS
Filthy riffs. Massive grooves. Zero bullshit.
Cancer Bats remain one of heavy music’s most reliably destructive forces. Give them dirt and apparently they’ll give us absolute carnage. 🦇🔥🤘
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