Intro tracks are part and parcel of heavy metal. They set a crazy tone for what you’re about to hear, and sometimes they actually fit the mood of the album. 3 Inches of Blood have a perfect intro for their album “Fire up the Blades” with Through the Horned Gate. If electric guitars and distortion existed in the middle ages, this is what you play to amp up the soldiers before battle. The slow build and introduction of heavy snare adds tension, like you’re about to engage in epic combat, possibly with an axe, against an hordish onslaught of… hordes.
And then Night Marauders kicks you square in the teeth with Jamie Hoopers screamy intro. This song runs in high gear the entire time, a good indicator that this album won’t let up until you pop the headphones off. The drum work is complex, mixing in triplets of double kick along with standard patterns. The guitars are split into the left and right channel, so you can get a better sense of their interplay, with Cam Pipes leading the harmonizing during verses.
Now your brain is revved up and running at 100 mph, so you figure they’ll drop a slower metal track. Sucks to be you; Goat Riders Horde is ready to launch you into the stratosphere. The crazy guitar intro with a little cymbal splash just really sets you up to kick even more ass. Pretty sure one time seeing 3 Inches of Blood live, a buddy who hadn’t seen them before yelled to me “HOLY SHIT THAT GUY SINGS HIGH.” Then Goat Riders Horde came on and he yelled “HOLY SHIT HE SINGS EVEN HIGHER!” Oh and the transitions, the ones that sound like shifting gears after solos, it’s like you needed to go a little faster and they were the kick in the ass you needed all along. I do feel impervious to fire and steel while listening to this song.
The “slow” song on the album is Great Hall of Feasting, featuring the great line “clean the blood stain from your blade before coming in.” It’s still rife with double kick, but heavy guitar syncopation gives it a unique feel. Also I think there’s cowbell up in there. If you’re trying to plan a workout around this album, this is the “take it easy” portion where you end up still putting up a PR of some sort.
Then there’s Assassins Of the Light, starting with what sounds like a beer cracking. These guys are from B.C. so I assume it’s a Kokanee. It could be a Molson, maybe a Rainier, I don’t judge. The guitarmonies play incredibly well, filling out the sound while not imposing that wall of noise lesser bands seem to think is important.
The album brings a fantastic, high speed power metal that holds up to multiple listenings. Just look at all the blades up on the cover. You know it’s going to be some great heavy metal.
Key Tracks: Night Marauders, Goat Riders Horde, Demons Blade, Assassins of the Light