Cancer was formed in 1988, hailed from Telford and played death metal. It didn't take the band long to achieve itself a name and even amass a following in Canada and the USA. Having left Obituary, guitar nomad Murphy joined the band for the second outing which was recorded in the USA with producer Scott Burns. Murphy did not stay long and was soon replaced by Barry Savage. The second album's cover managed to garner some controversy. All in all things were going well for the band and with tours worldwide with Deicide, Demolition Hammer and Cerebral Fix, the future looked bright.
Things seemed to have picked up with a surprising record contract with a major label. Alas, soon after the release the band disappeared forever. This was possibly because of a change of styles which saw the band sound more like a heavy metal/thrash act as opposed to the original death metal approach!
Stokes later joined Assert before banding together with Walker to found Remission. The band announced a reunion in August of 2003 and also advertised a reunion gig for London for November. This was expanded to become a mini-tour of the UK. The band also gave news of a new EP called Corporation$. The EP was to feature a Celtic Frost cover, two new songs called Oil and Oxygen Thief which were in the same vein as the Black Faith material according to the band, plus an old song called Witch Hunt. The EP would also feature a remix of the new track Oil by Ian Buchanon, the original bass player. The band's new member Rob Engvikson was also working on material for his own band, Asatru. Engvikson was soon turfed from the line-up. The man was let go ostensibly because he was not a versed lead player. His replacement was of Dave Leitch Pulverised. The band signed to Copro Records and issued Spirit In Flames in June of 2005. Following its second split in early 2006, former members guitarists Barry Savage and David Leitch, bassist Ian Buchanan and drummer Carl Stokes recruited Rob Lucas on vocals and formed a band called Hail Of Fire. The band also recorded a demo.

CANCER - SPIRIT IN FLAMES - COPRO  
"UK death metal legends" proclaims the bio and makes one wonder whether the band Cancer believes itself in the same league as Pluto, Aristotle, Einstein or musically in the same level as Possessed, Slayer or Death. Let me assure you that the hyperbole is unjustified.
Apparently, there was no reason for English band Cancer to regroup. The band went away after signing a contract with a major, getting dropped after a shoddy release and now wants us to believe it is back again for real. Well, not with such musical output. The album is mostly downright bad. The riffs are mundane and derivative, the production inferior and the structure generally unpolished, but what is really working against the band is the vocals of John Walker. Even studio effects cannot save his powerless growl-cum-spoken word. He has no business behind a microphone whatsoever. The couple of respectable riffs and solos would have given Spirit In Flames a measure of passability, yet given the rest of the music and the aforementioned vocals the band's comeback album is absolutely a no-go area for fans. At least the album's title is right on! - Ali "The Metallian"