The first time I heard 3 Inches of Blood, I was hanging out with some friends in college. We called these kids scenesters at the time, but I guess they were a modern equivalent to hipsters. They liked girljeans and were fellas. Anyway, they listened to a lot of hardcore punk and screamo and stuff like Gorilla Biscuits & the lesser known Gayrilla Biscuits. So when they told me they found a band I might like, I was a little hesitant. Then I heard the opening to Deadly Sinners and I realized they were actually being good friends.

Hailing from the frozen tundra of Vancouver, BC, 3 Inches of Blood bring some of the biggest, fastest, and loudest power metal/heavy metal/priest-era metal you can find. Cam Pipes has one of the best names for a metal vocalist, and he delivers high octane and high octave chops that hearken back to the days when metal gods roamed the earth.
And Advance and Vanquish is probably my favorite album out there. Its opening track, Fear on the Bridge, is part of a multi-song epic, Upon the Boiling Sea, and the sound of a cannon being lit and fired is a solid way to drop you into imagery of pirates sinking Spanish brigs and looting their booty. Haha booty lootin.

As great as Fear on the Bridge is, I feel like the true intro track/single is Deadly Sinners. The intro is huge, dropping you into driving drums, dueling guitars and a great growl of “C’mooooooooooon” by original secondary singer Jamie Hooper. Also enemies of metal, your death is our reward. Pipes’ falsetto just ties everything together, setting the tone for an album full of face-melting metal.

The album does merge a bit of hardcore punk with the metal themes that will take hold in future albums. Dominion of Deceit seems to walk the line between the two genres with a deft skill. Though really the guitar harmony and double kick helps reinforce the metal awesomeness of 3 Inches of Blood.

I often refer to how quickly a song can get me going the speed limit on a bicycle. Usually it involves trying to pace the snare hits, since if I go for the bass drum I’ll have a heart attack within a block. Advance and Vanquish regularly gets me pacing and/or passing traffic, like some sort of heavy metal bicycling dbag.

Key tracks: Deadly Sinners, Destroy the Orcs, Wykydtron, Revenge is Vulture