Live gig by Canadian hardcore metal punk band Cancer Bats, with support from Ignite and Knives, at The Key Club.
Cancer Bats are playing The Key Club on Thursday 29 October, with Ignite and Knives on the bill. It's a Canadian hardcore metal punk band from Toronto, and they've been at it since 2006, when they came out with Birthing the Giant. The sound pulls from a fair few directions — Black Flag and Down on one end, Led Zeppelin, Entombed and Black Sabbath on the other. Before they hit their stride, they spent years touring Canada as a Sabbath cover band under the name Bat Sabbath.
They started getting noticed in the early 2010s, picking up Juno Award nominations for Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones in 2011 and Dead Set on Living in 2013. By 2026, they've got five studio albums and three Juno nominations to their name. In 2018, they put out their sixth record, The Spark That Moves, on their own label, Bat Skull Records — they dropped the whole thing at once rather than teasing singles first.
That one was recorded in Winnipeg at JP Peters' Private Ear studio and mixed by Eric Ratz. It runs across 11 tracks of hardcore, punk, sludge and metal, and it doesn't shy away from the band's melodic and aggressive sides. The closer, 'Winterpeg', is an ode to Winnipeg and features guest vocals from Propagandhi's Chris Hannah.
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So, it's Cancer Bats with Ignite and Knives at The Key Club, 66 Merrion St, Leeds, on Thursday 29 October. Doors are at 7:00pm, and tickets are £28.12, which includes the booking fee.
