Cancer Christ: God Is Violence (2024, Seeing Red Records)

Celebrating the arrival of the new year with a hardcore punk album is one of the best things you can do in life. Cancer Christ was formed in Los Angeles during 2021 by vocalist Saint Anthony, guitarists Snake Boss and Diesel Snake, bassist Piss Snake and drummer Apocalypse Snake, debuting that same year with the single The Blood Of Jesus. Last year they continued their musical adventure with the release of their EP Satan Is A Bitch, the two releases that precede what in 2024 will be their debut album that I have in my hands today, God Is Violence.

Their proposal is frenetic and furious, a perfect combination of elements of the most aggressive hardcore and the rawest punk that shines especially in songs like Satan Is A Bitch, whose average duration does not exceed two minutes in length as one expects in this type of formations. Cancer Christ fully trusts in the work of his aggressive compositions and operates with complete ease within the standards of a genre that, despite being somewhat overexploited, continues to sound fresh and maintains a certain originality.

In addition to the aggressiveness that comes from its lyrics, we also find other more casual songs with a certain critical air, such as Jesus Got A Big ‘Ol Cock or Baptized In Piss And Shit, the latter being one of the songs chosen to promote the album as simple. Listening to it is pleasant, it is a fairly short album that in just over twenty-five minutes manages to capture the essence of the Californian quintet in the purest and most authentic way.

The acidity of their lyrics becomes more than evident in songs like God Bless The Rapists, where they also incorporate some guitar riffs in the purest Suicidal Tendencies style, reminiscent of the most playful Municipal Waste songs, as if they had wanted to unite the best of both worlds and mix it with the dirty and crust sound of bands like Take Offense or Gwar.

In short, Cancer Christ has not come to invent anything new nor does it intend to revolutionize the musical landscape with its proposal, they have come to kick our asses and make us drink as much beer as possible while we shake our heads to the rhythm of the best hardcore punk in the West Coast.