Liam Cormier of Toronto-based punk band Cancer Bats loves coming to Whistler.

“We are so stoked for the show in Whistler,” he said. “Every show we’ve done in Whistler has been awesome.”

Cormier, the vocalist for Cancer Bats, said the resort is unlike any place as a venue for hardcore music.

“It’s a place with a huge skateboarding and snowboarding culture,” he said. “So it’s a rad place with a super good vibe, and people listen to our type of music and know our songs.”

Cormier said it was like playing for his peers.

“In Whistler, people live life on their own terms — they’re athletes and artists, people who live unconventionally,” he said. “And we’re like that. We play hardcore music for a living, so it’s like we’re the same.”

The Juno nominated Cancer Bats originally exploded onto the Canadian hardcore punk scene in 2004 and soon began playing shows with the likes of Alexisonfire and Billy Talent.

Before long the band was earning critical praise from punk and hardcore publications, and igniting stages at SXSW, Taste Of Chaos, Download Festival, Edgefest, Leeds, and Reading.

In April the band is set to release its latest CD called Bears, Mayors, Scraps and Bones, an album that Cormier said really conveys the band’s live sound.

“Our band is pretty heavy,” he said. “And sometimes it is really hard to capture that live intensity on a studio album. Sometimes you need to compromise that heaviness for the sake of clarity.”

But with a couple albums already under their collective belts, Cancer Bats was finally able to get that live feel on a CD.

“Once you understand the nature of recording and a better understanding of the gear and what you can do, it helped everyone to step up and make a great record,” he said. “We didn’t compromise anything.”

Cormier said although it isn’t always easy to succeed as a punk act in polite Canada, the country’s hardcore scene was friendlier than other places.

“One thing I enjoy is there aren’t 100 other hardcore acts to compete with,” he said. “But even then, it’s not even competitive between the bands that do exist in the punk and hardcore scene.”

Cormier said instead of wanting to be the only act on a bill, the band is excited to share the stage with 3 Inches of Blood at Merlin’s next Thursday (March 4).

“We were like ‘Awesome, it will be an even more amazing show,’” he said. “In Canada bands help each other out — it’s more about bros than business.”

Catch the bros of Cancer Bats and 3 Inches of Blood playing punk like nobody’s business at Merlin’s on March 4.