Early career and To the Gory End (1988–1990) Cancer was formed one night in 1988 in the Tontine public house in
Ironbridge,
Shropshire, by drummer Carl Stokes, guitarist John Walker and bassist Ian Buchanan. The band quickly put together their first two-track demo, ''No Fuckin' Cover'', at the Pits studio in
Birmingham, owned by ex-
Starfighters vocalist Steve Burton. The demo was produced by
Stevie Young (nephew of
AC/DC's
Angus Young and
Malcolm Young) and engineered by
"Big" Mick Hughes (live sound engineer for
Metallica). The band also began playing live, starting with their first gig in Birmingham opening for Bomb Disneyland, Throughout May, Cancer toured throughout the UK supported by
Unleashed and Desecrator, then returned to US for an appearance at the 1991 Milwaukee Metal Festival and further touring in support of Deicide and Obituary. James Murphy left the band in December 1991 to form
Disincarnate and was replaced by Barry Savage. This was followed by further touring throughout the US, Mexico, Israel and Europe. whilst others considered it a "poor man's
Heartwork". Following a short European tour with support act
Meshuggah, Cancer decided to call it a day, citing "a lack of faith from certain key individuals in the industry and Major Label Bullshit". They were also planning to make a number of festival appearances, where they would only play songs from the aforementioned albums. In August 2018,
Shadow Gripped was confirmed as the title of the band's first studio album in 13 years, which was released on 2 November 2018. Their latest studio album,
Inverted World, was released on 25 April 2025. == Members ==