CANCER BATS

Proving that loud, gritty, and ranting punk rock is still alive and thrashing in Canada, Toronto's Cancer Bats employ a punishing blend of hardcore punk, metalcore, Southern rock, and sludge metal. Citing a wide berth of musical inspirations, including Black Flag, Down, Led Zeppelin, Entombed, and Black Sabbath -- they have toured Canada as a Sabbath cover band under the moniker Bat Sabbath -- they emerged in 2006 with the hard-hitting Birthing the Giant. They caught fire in the early 2010s, earning Juno Award nominations for 2011's Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones and 2013's Dead Set on Living.