In case you didn't know already, Los Angeles is the place to be right now if you really want to play the role of graven idol in a pagan ritual that—with a lot of fake blood, shit beer, and cocaine—can make Instagram tingle in places less spoken about in good company. As Twin Temple vocalist Alex James told me a few years back as we waxed poetic on L.A, "It’s like the land of like Jack Parsons and Lowrider doo-wop music," referencing the 20th-century Los Angeleno, rocket engineer, and popular Thelemite.
That's why Cancer Christ—which describes their heavy sound as "Reptilian Christian Christ Violence" (yeah, your guess is as good as ours)—tickles my funny bone in ways less spoken about in good company, yet their act doesn't surprise me in the slightest. In fact, it makes absolute sense, as it's the perfect satirical antidote to the freaks that hang out on Franklin Avenue.
Cancer Christ played Ballroom Blitz in Hollywood recently, and according to Loudwire, they "attempted to 'cleans the damned' with bloodbath baptisms…. [with] no-ring wrestling matches taking place [as] the fun carried out into the streets with a flamethrower being used as the audience members gathered around."
Needless to say, shit got weird, and Instagram started to feel funny.
So, who are Cancer Christ anyway? The hardcore punk-slash-"what the fuck is this?" group explains their journey like this on their website:
"Cancer Christ has seen the ailing not too distant future of this godless world. Our bleak existence needs a new, stronger word of God. Cancer Christis the imperfect vessel to wage a holy war against those who wish to profit from a dying prophet’s words. Cancer Christ understands evil must be fought with true words and even truer actions; fire must be met with fire, darkness must be met with searing and powerful holy light."
All that aside, and on a far more serious note, the band also speaks of a core tenant and focus: "The mission of Cancer Christ is to find lost souls to take up arms in this new and uncertain heavenly body. We accept all: black, white, gay, straight, trans and all others that wish to fight evil wherever it spews its putrid and vile wickedness."
I'm happy to report that sentiment is often echoed throughout the underground occult music scene today. So, book your flight to L.A. now, and in the meantime, check out some more of Cancer Christ's get-downs in the image below.
