Review Summary: METAL!!!
As soon as you hear any of the opening riffs for any of the songs on 3 Inches Of Blood's newest release, Fire Up The Blades, you can tell that you won't be getting some mind-blowingly original album with a high amount of complexity and slow-paced moments. You're getting a balls-to-the-wall heavy metal album with high-pitched Halford-esque vocals, along with powerful and agressive riffs that will make you wonder if these guys were taught how to play by Dave Murray and Adrian Smith. This is
METAL. There's no denying that. Although 3 Inches Of Blood bring
nothing new to metal's table, this is one cool album.
Right from the beginning, you'll notice how the vocals alternate. The harsh vocals will sometimes begin a song, when sometimes the clean vocals will. Nearly all of the songs have vocals from both singers. What about the musicianship? Although many of the riffs sound as if they came directly from Powerslave, they're still cool. Judas Priest and Iron Maiden are clearly two of the band's biggest influences, both musically and vocally. Ok, so the guitar-playing is excellent, and the solos are brutal. The clean vocals are ridiculous but you gotta love 'em, but the harsh vocals are not that great. I'm not a huge fan of "RAH"ing in general, but the screaming here is definitely tolerable. It's not too bad actually. As for the bass, who cares? It's there. It's audible for sure, but it's not a huge aspect of 3 Inches' sound. To be such Maiden fanboys, I'm quite surprised their bassist didn't try and mimic Steve Harris. What about the drums? They're brutal, they're
metal.
As for the actually songs, one of the main highlights of the album is The Goatriders Horde. I'm not exactly sure what this song is about, but I'd say it has something to do with a fantasy-related subject. What's so insanely awesome about this song? It's freakin' brutal. Seriously, everything about this song is as brutal and as metal as it gets. It's an extremely fast-paced track with elements of thrash metal(mainly the speed) and power metal, but I wouldn't exactly bill these guys as any subgenre on anything. They're
METAL, and that's a fact.
As much as some of these songs rock, one of the worst things about Fire Up The Blades is the fact that about four of the songs sound almost just like each other. But there's no denying the kick-arsery of this whole album. In a world where metal bands are judged on how "orginal", "ground-breaking", or "complex" they are, there is Three Inches Of Blood, a band that's not afraid to show how much they love classic metal. In a way, they are the Wolfmother of their genre. Just like Andrew Stockdale isn't afraid to sing like Robert Plant/Ozzy Osbourne, Cam Pipes isn't afraid to sing like Rob Halford.
Pros:
+ Killer riffs
+ Cool vocals
+ it's
METAL
Cons:
- Some songs sound alike
Final Ranking: Great
