3 Inches of Blood

There’s a reason fans have come to their shows wearing Viking helmets
and brandishing both real and plastic swords. Born out of a love for
pure metal, weaned on a diet of fantasy and mythology, 3 Inches of
Blood have been slaying the infidel and defending the faith for nearly
eight years.


In that time, they’ve released two albums and splattered the ground
with crimson streaks while on tour with Satyricon, Black Dahlia Murder,
Motorhead and Cradle of Filth. These are mighty accomplishments for
dedicated warriors from Vancouver, British Columbia, a region that's
not exactly the Camelot of heavy metal. And with their new album, Fire
Up the Blades, 3 Inches of Blood have surpassed even their own manly
exploits, crafting a baker’s dozen of anthems and stormers that crash,
rip and roar like a Medieval skirmish.


”With this album, the blacksmith is heating up the blades and we are
preparing for battle,” says vocalist Jamie Hooper. “We are forging the
steel that we'll use to annihilate the heavy metal posers, and in every
town we play, the streets will run red with their blood.”


Throughout Fire Up the Blades, 3 Inches of Blood demonstrate that the
best way to stay ahead of the heavy metal curve is to write music that
comes from the heart and sounds nothing like the horde of bands tapping
into the latest trends. To that end, they draw fuel from their favorite
artists, including Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate, Manowar
and Enslaved and compile it all into their own lethal potion. Once
more, 3 Inches of Blood demonstrate great skill for riding galloping
steeds into fiery realms of crunching riffs and banging heads, but Fire
Up the Blades is darker and more aggressive than 2004’s critically
acclaimed Advance and Vanquish. “Demon’s Blade” starts with a crushing,
technical thrash passage and peaks with twin guitar harmonies over
throat-shredding vocals and “Infinite Legions” features hailstorm blast
beats and orchestral swells between martial riffs.


“This album is heavily influenced by low quality beer, bong rips and
listening to black metal in the dark,” Hooper says. “It doesn’t sound
blatantly black metal, it still sounds like us. But it’s a faster, more
intense version of us.”


Fire Up the Blades marks the recording debut of four out of six of the
bandmembers. Hooper, who co-formed the group, and co-vocalist Cam Pipes
are the only soldiers to return from the last battle, and they’re
joined by guitarists Shane Clark, Justin Hagberg, bassist Nick Cates
and drummer Alexei Rodriguez. But even though the lineup is different,
the aesthetic remains the same, and the skill level actually eclipses
that of the last record.


“Sometimes when bands change members it seems like big step backwards,
but this was a major step forwards for us,” Hooper says. “Everyone new
who came in was at their best, which forced everybody else to pick up
their game a little bit and we came up with things we just couldn’t
have done before.”


Also adding to the skull-splintering vibe was Slipknot drummer Joey
Jordison, who produced the record. Jordison became a fan of 3 Inches of
Blood in 2004 when he filled in for Satyricon on tour and 3 Inches of
Blood opened. “When he found out we were doing another record, he
offered his services, and we were like, ‘Dude, of course!” Hooper says.
“He added a fresh perspective to the songs and helped us work on some
parts and arrangements. Also, he’s a beer drinking encyclopedia of cult
black metal, so we sat around drinking Pabst Blue Ribbons talking about
necro black metal the whole time, which was awesome.”


3 Inches of Blood started writing Fire Up the Blades in late 2006 and
composed many of the songs in a house they rented in Tacoma, Washington
early this year. They entered the studio with Jordison in October and
recorded at three locations in Vancouver -- The Armory, Mushroom
Studios and Hipposonic -- before finishing up at London Bridge Studios
in Seattle.


“Our engineer saw a ghost, but other than that, everything went
smoothly,” Hooper says. “No one was tearing their hair out or yelling
at each other. We were just drinking, having a good time and churning
out the metal.”


Hooper co-formed 3 Inches of Blood in Victoria, British Columbia in
2000. In addition to a batch of musicians who are long gone, he
recruited singer Cam Pipes, whose high pitched shrieks both contrast
with and compliment Hooper’s vicious growls. In 2001 the group released
its debut, Battlecry Under a Winter Sun, which was released by a label
owned by a local record store. When the shop closed, 3 Inches of Blood
self-financed additional pressings of the album, which laid the
foundation for the band’s epic style of music with songs like “Destroy
the Orcs,” “Skeletal Onslaught” and “Headwaters of the River of Blood.”


”When we started, a lot of us came out of this DIY scene where most of
the bands had some sort of message,” Hooper says. “I support that, but
we wanted to be band that was just about good times, and would just cut
loose. The music that we love and puts smiles on our faces is classic
metal. And, we’re all fans of shitty movies and fantasy novels, so we
decided to use that stuff as well in our music.”


Compelled by the band’s dedication and determination, Roadrunner
Records signed 3 Inches of Blood and in 2004 released Advance and
Vanquish, an album that brought to mind the best of bands like Running
Wild, Grave Digger, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Diamond Head. As
triumphant as it was, its creation was a long and bloody process. “We
went through about 12 records worth of bullshit making that,” says
Hooper. “On the first day of recording, our drummer and bass player
quit. So we had to replace them with guys who basically learned the
songs as we were recording them. And, after we recorded, our two guitar
players quit. But then our new guitarists [Hagberg and Clark] joined
and we were like, ‘Alright, it’s go time.’”


Which brings us back to Fire Up the Blades, an album that combines
fist-tight musicianship, rib-sticking riffs and more monsters and
mayhem than a game of Dungeons & Dragons. No longer, do 3 Inches of
Blood sing about pirates and cyborgs, now they’re more rooted to a
dark, mystical era when great beasts roamed the land, and a man was
defined by the strength of his armor and the power of his sword.


“The general theme of the whole thing is that we are all united in
battle,” Hooper says. “But a lot of the songs are also about the
imagined Christian demons coming forth from their imaginations and
reaping the whirlwind, so to speak. It’s more of a post-apocalyptic
doom scenario. ‘’Mad Max’ barren wasteland, everybody’s fucked kind of
stuff.”


While 3 Inches of Blood are eager to see how fans react to their new
album, and are even looking forward to the return of the kids with
swords and shields, they’re also curious about what new kinds of
lunatics will pop up at their shows. “The music’s more extreme now, but
I don’t know how much more extreme some of these fans can get,” Hooper
says. “In Cincinnati, we had a fellow come onstage with a pig’s head on
a stick. He fell down and dropped the head and we had to soccer ball
kick it off the stage. Then, in Fargo, North Dakota, a guy came on
holding a severed deer’s head over his head. The tongue was sticking
out and blood was dripping all over his face. How much more metal can
you get than that?”


Take a running dive into The Blades, and find out.