THEY’RE the Canadian rockers who took issue with Kanye West - but Theory of a Deadman would be happy to hear the controversial rapper’s new album.

The band cheekily designed a T-shirt showing West being punched in a response to his comments that rock music was “dead”.

But singer Tyler Connolly reckons it’s water under the bridge now.

“I’ll give it a listen,” he says, referring to West’s new The Life of Pablo album.

“A fan said he went up to Kanye and asked him to sign that shirt.

"He wasn’t amused, but that’s okay.

"If I see him I’ll tell him he’s a talented guy because I’m a lover not a fighter.”

Tyler is set to bring Theory back to Scotland for the second time in a year, as they return to the O2 ABC on Sunday.

It’s the group’s final tour supporting 2014 album Savages, before they start planning their next album.

Tyler admits he’s still not sure what direction the group will go in next.

“I write so many different types of songs so it’s too early to tell what direction we’re going in,” he says.

“But right now, I still really enjoy the heavy rock songs.”

That was the direction the band explored the most on Savages, their fifth record.

However, over the years Theory of a Deadman haven’t been shy at mixing things up, dropping in acoustic and even country ideas to their sound.

Proof of that diversity came last year, when they released an acoustic EP, Angel, that stripped back a few of their songs and added a cover of Swedish pop star Tove Lo’s song Habits (Stay High) for good measure.

They then marked 15 years together with an acoustic tour across Canada at the start of this year.

“We started doing an acoustic portion during our sets and fans kept asking if we would actually put something unplugged out on CD,” explains Tyler.

“I really enjoyed it and think there will be more acoustic recordings to follow in the not too distant future.

“The first show on the acoustic tour was nerve racking.

“They were theatres, which made it more intimidating since everyone was seated and super quiet.

"But honestly we had the time of our lives on that tour and it really was refreshing for us and the fans to hear our songs broken down like that.”

Nearly two years on from its release, Tyler is still pleased with how well Savages was received.

He’s particularly happy that the album featured some of the band’s heaviest ever songs, as well as a guest turn from rock legend Alice Cooper.

The School’s Out singer lent his distinctive voice to a spoken word reading on the album title track.

“We’re proud to have gone back to a heavier sound, since some bands become complacent as they get into their later records” says Tyler.

“Alice was great, a true artist and talent.

"I flew down to his house where he runs his radio programmes and we recorded his vocals there.

“His voice is legendary and it was a blast being able to witness him being that character we all admire.”

Cooper’s contribution features him musing on humans being savage at heart, and raising the next generation to be exactly the same way.

It’s a bleak view of the world that reflects Tyler’s own concerns.

“It’s more of a warning, I guess,” he says.

“As I get older, I do reflect more on what I’ve seen in the world and I’m lucky to have seen some great things, but there are also some things that need to change.

“I rarely talk about those issues in our music, but I think the timing was right.”

The band themselves are in a more optimistic place.

They’ve been through a few drummers in their 15 years together but the rest of the group are unchanged from when they first got together in British Columbia years ago.

“The key is being able to live with one another,” says Tyler, explaining why they’re still going strong.

“We enjoy what we do and there are no egos, no one in our band is motivated by fame or fortune, it’s for the love of music.

“And we get to travel the world. That’s the icing on the cake.”

Theory of a Deadman, O2 ABC, Sunday, £15, 7pm