Vim Fuego
An Edward J. Repka album cover is generally a good sign for an album. His work has appeared on the cover for some of the biggest names in Metal, like Megadeth, Nuclear Assault and Death. Add 3 Inches of Blood to that illustrious list.
Despite being on Roadrunner, the choice of the nu-generation, 3 Inches of Blood deal in metal. ‘Advance and Vanquish’ loads up all the old school metal bases, with obvious debts to Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Manowar, Mercyful Fate/King Diamond, and touches of more recent bands like Blind Guardian and their Germanic power metal compatriots.
Dual vocalist bands are generally the domain of insano-grindcore bands where it takes two vocalists to keep up with the music, or lame black metal bands, where the bass player’s lard assed gothic girlfriend warbles along, annoying and tuneless. 3 Inches of Blood use the extra vocalist differently, in that he genuinely is a second singer and not just a bit part player. The dual voices of Cam Pipes and Jamie Hooper play off one another, nicely complementing each other. While one is an almost traditional power metal voice, the other is a harsh screeched thrash style. It allows for more flexibility than a dual voiced single vocalist, helping to create a feel of violence and conflict, and tells two parts of a story. Oddly, there is not a lot of harmonising, even though it would fit some of the material.
3 Inches of Blood live in a world of magic and legend, bloody conflicts and mystical creatures without a single hint of irony or embarrassment. Songs like ‘Destroy the Orcs’ and ‘Swordmaster’ sit comfortably alongside ‘Wykydtron’ (“In the year four thousand fifty five, Wykydtron came alive”) and ‘Crazy Nights’ (“Hammersmith is calling me!”). OK, so it’s not rocket science or brain surgery, it’s mostly medieval type Dungeons and Dragons style fantasy. It’s pure sword wielding, dragon slaying escapism.
Musically, 3 Inches of Blood lean toward the Dragonforce-style high speed, low subtlety type of power metal. There is no room for weepy Rhapsody-style ballads. There’s a distinct thrash influence, particularly in the guitar attack, and it rears its head in pretty much every song. The rhythm section is competent enough, but this isn’t really about them. It’s all about the power of the riff and thy mighty sword.
‘Advance and Vanquish’ isn’t exactly ground breaking, but it is refreshing enough to stand out from the crowd, even without the two vocalist gimmick. Songs like ‘Deadly Sinners’, the future fantasy ‘Wykydtron’, ‘Crazy Nights’ and ‘Destroy the Orcs’ stand out as short, sharp punches against the epics, like the ‘Upon The Boiling Sea’ trilogy and ‘Dominion of Deceit’. There is enough to interest fans of power metal, traditional metal and possibly the odd thrasher. ‘Advance and Vanquish’ is a busy little album which lends itself to numerous repeat listening.