When Cancer Bats arrive in town on December 15, they are bringing with them an unprecedented rock show the likes of which surely will live in local history for years to come: the band has been on tour now since December 2 as a tribute band to 1970s metal pioneers Black Sabbath.

But wait, there's more: not only will Cancer Bats perform as Bat Sabbath, but they will share the stage with local metal success story Baptized In Blood, who will grace the stage as Nirvana tribute outfit Baptized In Bleach.

In addition to the success they've enjoyed since releasing Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones early last year, this tour arguably elevates Cancer Bats to become the most notable rock tribute act in Canada. But as frontman Liam Cormier spoke to Interrobang recently from the studio — listening to the final mixes on their newly announced album Dead Set On Living, due in the spring — he indicated the idea had some humble beginnings.

The band first performed their tribute set to the metal giants after being approached by festival organizers at the 2011 Sonisphere festival in Bohemia who were looking for an after-party band that could play on a side stage after the headliners Slipknot finished their set at night. Cancer Bats were already on the schedule to perform that night, so organizers pitched their idea.

"They put it to us, said we could cover anything we want," Cormier recalled, indicating the organizers listed Pantera with Black Sabbath as an option for the tribute.

"We were like, 'No fucking way can we pull off a whole set of Pantera songs!'" Cormier laughed. "So we unassumingly said, 'We'll just go Black Sabbath; that'll be super easy,' and then opened a real can of worms because of how jazzy and crazy Sabbath is. It was funny for us to take it on as the easy route, but then realize it's actually really difficult."

Cormier's excitement was easy to hear over the phone, for the tour and for the new material he had to reflect on sitting in the studio. According to music sites online, the band — also composed of Scott Middleton on guitar, Mike Peters on drums and Jaye Schwarzer on bass — began recording the album in August, and according to Cormier, the album hadn't been finished for more than a couple of hours when he spoke to Interrobang.

"Every time we write a record, we always go back and listen to what we liked about the other ones," he explained. "We love our band, and we love what we do, so we're always trying to finely tune it, make it better. So it's like we go and pull out all our favourite parts from our past records and try to do it again as a new band."

"I never want to try to write a single; I want to write a really fun song we can play live, not get too far removed from why we started this band in the first place," Cormier said, indicating that a band needs to be able to laugh things off. "We're friends and we do this because we love it and it's fun. Writing your fourth record and trying to make something successful and not get too caught up in the commercial side of things, I think that's where you need to have a sense of humour."

Bat Sabbath and Baptized In Bleach are set to descend on Rum Runners here in London on December 15, with doors opening at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance, and are available online at tinyurl.com/bats-london.

For more information on Bat Sabbath or their Bastards of Reality tour, visit cancerbats.com or follow the band on Twitter @cancerbats. Baptized In Blood, who celebrated their signing to Roadrunner Records last year with a huge release party, can be found online at baptizedinblood.com or on Twitter @baptizedinblood. Further information can be found appearing on londonmusichall.com and Facebook each day closer to the event.