Heavy metal? Stoner rock? Punk? Bison B.C. singer-guitarist James Farwell isn't particularly interested in debating which classification his band's fierce sound falls into.

"Being pigeonholed in a genre is never too interesting, especially when you look at modern music, which is vapid and boring and commercialized," Farwell tells Spinner from his hometown of Vancouver, BC. "Even [in] subcultures like metal and punk nowadays everything is pre-designed and marketed and gross. We just play music that we like."

Maybe so, but with Metal Blade backing Bison B.C. once again for their upcoming record -- 2008's 'Quiet Earth' was the band's debut on the prestigious, California-based metal label -- it's tempting to throw the guys in with the rest of the headbanging sect.

"We like it on the heavier side but I think it's weird we're on a metal label," Farwell admits. "I think we stick out on that label but they're great -- and they're kind of experimenting with us."

When the forthcoming disc finally surfaces -- Farwell reports that the bulk of the recording at Hive Creative Labs is complete with only a bit of aesthetic guitar parts, minor vocals and instrumentation left to do -- listeners will have the opportunity to decide for themselves where exactly Bison B.C.'s sonic allegiance lies. In the meantime, fans can ready themselves for an album that Farwell deems "more emotional" than their last.

"It's not as cut and dry, the dynamics are different and it's got more highs and lows," he explains. "I was a bit more intentional in writing about more serious subject matter so there's nothing fantastical, it's all personal observation of the world."

When Farwell says "the world," he actually means Vancouver -- and more specifically, its notorious Downtown Eastside. The twin plagues of mental illness and drug addiction were at the forefront of Farwell's mind when he first started writing the lyrics. "It's very rampant where I work in the Downtown Eastside and over the years it gets under your skin. Not that writing a rock album changes anything, but perhaps it's more cathartic to sing about things I actually know about."

Judging from Farwell's preview, listeners are in for an epic journey when the new record is released later this spring. While we'll have to wait to see what the brutal quartet actually has in store, you can rest assure that no matter which genres the album culls from, Bison B.C. will pummel your eardrums.