It’s all too reflective of our modern, capitalistic, cynical world that despite the relatively large numbers of Punk bands that appear and vanish in the blink of an eyelid, few are concerned with more than trying to sound like Bad Religion and get a hit single. There have been many Death Metal, Black Metal, and even Rock bands that threaten the classic status of the originators of the respective genres, yet when it comes to Punk the old school rules supreme. Not a single modern band has come close to knocking Discharge, The Dead Kennedys, Crass, Black Flag, or heck, even The Sex Pistols from their deserved pedestals.

It’s something of a relief, then, to put the (rather crappily) named Cancer Bats on and be greeted with some old-school crusty riffs rather than the Poppy rubbish that drives the likes of Green Day. Of course, the Toronto four-piece isn’t anywhere near as good as, say, old Discharge, but it makes a pleasant enough racket. Songs are sharp little blasts, catchy tunes hiding behind guitars and screams, with the occasional dip into Hard Rock pastures such as Lucifer’s Rocking Chair. There’s a decent amount of memorable riffs and it’s the guitar tone that’s the highlight, but it’ll take a few listens to get the most from the songs on offer here. Still, the Punky Thrashings on Let It Pour and Harem Of Scorpions will be enough to turn most Metalheads on, even with the yelped vocals and poor attempts at growling of Liam Cormier.

Ultimately, Hail Destroyer is not going to do much for Punk’s poor status in the Metal world (and there's little progression from debut Birthing The Giant, but if you like your old-school Hardcore bands (this is more exciting than many of your average Metalcore can manage) then Cancer Bats will have you kung-fu dancing before you know what’s hit you.