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CANCER
Inverted World

Peaceville (2025)
Rating: 5/10

After the zombified stodge of their 1990 debut platter To The Gory End, British death metallers Cancer appeared to be going places by the time their sophomore outing Death Shall Rise hit the racks in 1991. Damn, the Shropshire shrews even managed to enlist the talents of American axeman James Murphy who had appeared, albeit briefly, for American heavyweights Death and Obituary and went onto feature for Testament among others.

Unfortunately, the 90s was a strange and diverse climate for the metal scene and to move with the times Cancer shifted styles. In spite of 1993’s The Sins Of Mankind maintaining the death thrash vibe, the 1995 opus Black Faith with its industrial influences most certainly signalled the beginning of the end. However, Cancer would return a decade later but clearly hadn’t learned their lesson with Spirit In Flames (2005). This time the band would adopt a tepid Machine Head-style of groove metal and many were left scratching their head at such incompetent hogwash.

Fast forward then to 2018 and the return once again of Cancer, but this time Shadow Gripped seemed to bring back to the surface a seemingly sunken ship. Frontman John Walker had resorted back to his ravenous gnashing and musically the death thrash tumult was in place. It’s a shame of course that once again a lot of time has passed before the combo came up with this latest effort, Inverted World, but thankfully it’s still the Cancer we want… or is it? Walker, who also plays guitar as you should all know, is now the only surviving founding member following the departures of John Buchanan (bass) and Carl Stokes (drums) in 2022. And having relocated to Madrid in Spain, Walker has recruited three local musicians in the form of guitarist Robert Navajas, bassist Daniel Maganto and drummer Gabriel Valcázar.

With Inverted World there isn’t a great departure from Shadow Gripped, although this outing is heavier. It was the track ‘Amputate’ (the subject being the cruelties of colonisation) that I heard first and I must admit I found it rather dull and one dimensional, but this aside the album does boast plenty of good moments although it still leaves me with the feeling that Cancer’s career remains patchy, confused and in permanent limbo.

‘Enter The Gates’ opens the album and is rather underwhelming in spite of its heavy mid-tempo groove, and after a few spins it’s obvious that while steadying the boat is important, moving forward seems impossible for Walker. Much of what is offered here is bog standard old school death metal with uninspiring vocals, and “uninspiring” is a word that pretty much sums up the career of Cancer.

As the album unravels I’m rarely fazed by an offering that just exists alongside the mediocrity, and only occasionally am I buoyed by a song like ‘Test Site’ which boasts a Voivod-esque formation, but the thrills are too few and far between. As I said, it is a heavier album than Shadow Gripped and yet apart from a few leads circa Death’s Spiritual Healing (1990) it’s just lukewarm.

Walker’s vocals attempt to dominate through the weak production but he just doesn’t have the presence to take the bull by the horns and drive the band on. When the thrashy ‘Until They Died’ weaves its way out of the mud I’m thankful of such liveliness because so much of this record is mid-paced slogging. But even when some tracks (‘Covert Operations’) promise a spark it’s quickly snuffed out by laborious chugging.

Sure, I understand the charm of meat n’ potatoes death metal, but the stuff served up here is stale. The likes of ‘39 Bodies’, ‘When Killing Isn’t Murder’ and ‘Jesus For Eugenics’ are all tired, sluggish constructions coated in an overwhelming drabness. It’s a shame, but what Inverted World does is finally confirm that Cancer has had their day, and even if they want to prove me wrong I no longer have the patience.

Neil Arnold

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