Heavy metal, a genre deemed dead by some, is the foundation of 3 Inches of Blood. These guys from Vancouver, Canada play it the old school way. The music is story based, so expect lyrics aboot swords, pirates, warriors and other medieval things. Soundwise, comparisons to Iron Maiden (epic structures), King Diamond (vocals) and Ride The Lightning-Metallica (the heavier metal ingredient) are in order. I didn’t expect much of this, because it’s been a while since I’ve listened to anything like this, for lately it has been Lamb Of God, Cult Of Luna, Twelve Tribes, that kind of stuff. That said, 3 Inches of Blood are of course signed to Roadrunner, so quality is to be expected. And indeed.

The first thing that really stands out are the shrieking vocals. Strangely, that is something I have always liked. These haunted shrieks are backed up by lower (still high pitched) screams, done by death-metal vocalist Cam Pipes. Although the lyrical content displayed here is something I’m not too fond of, it feels really authentic. They really seem to be honest about their pirate-sword-knight-castle subject matter.
The pace of ‘Advance and Vanquish’ is set quite high from the start as if they’re busy plundering a village.

Instrumentally 3 Inches of Blood is quite brilliant. Great guitarplay with a bunch of solo’s, fast drums with smart double-kick usage, and epic structuring. However, mix all that together, and your ears will want a break after some 6 or 7 songs. There are pace changes here and there, but they aren’t enough to keep you interested for the entire album. The song structuring, although epic, is pretty much the same on most songs, that and the perpetual high pace makes this album kind of boring towards the end.

The music has no room to breathe, like in all their haste they couldn’t find the time to leave one or two instruments out here and there or opt for complete silence. There are no instrumental breaks, no interludes, there is just no rest. Especially the shrieking never stops, and that is exactly the downfall of shrieking vocals; it wears the listener out quickly.
Still, 3 Inches Of Blood have made quite a good heavy metal album. You just need to listen to it in portions. A little more variety next time and a couple of breaks and shut-the-fuck-up- ‘ey!- moments (they are already on this CD, except singers Hooper and Pipes don’t) and they’ll really create something special.