You there, in the Trivium t-shirt. Listen up! Are you ready to swear your allegiance to the brotherhood of steel? Well, you can start by putting down that rolled-up copy of Metal Hammer, picking up a sword and decapitating the next emo kid you catch eye of. Only then, young warrior, will you be deemed metal enough to join our elite group.
3 Inches of Blood are the band of choice for the neophyte who considers metal to be a marginal genre comprising of little more than a dozen or so bands, yet they have just enough credence in “true” metal circles to makes them a convenient stopgap between Trivium and Amon Amarth. Subtlety is not on the agenda, and this clan wear their steely metal hearts on their patched-up denim sleeves. Who can honestly question their metal wares when they sing about such things as battles and swords and the brotherhood?
Yes, this is all about declaring your loyalty to metaldom by slaying the wimps and chasing the posers out of the hall and if you don’t like it then you can go and cry to whatever heartbroken fringe-flickers are currently on your bedroom stereo. For the sensible majority of us, there is a time and a place for this kind of thing and what could be more fun that drunkenly bashing your mates over the head with a blow up axe to ready-made anthems like ‘Battles and Brotherhood’ at Bloodstock? This is pretty much perfect for such gatherings as well as those times when you just want to bang your head without giving a great deal of thought to what’s going on behind the music.
There’s nothing too taxing or complex about this; it has that old school heavy metal style and a sound that is rather purposely under-produced to deliberately give off that retro vibe. It’s solo’s and guitar-monies galore on the likes of ‘Silent Killer’ which also has drumming that’s reminiscent of early Iron Maiden. ‘Call Of The Hammer’ strikes down like an iron fist, instantly hitting you between the eyes. This one is really thrashy and will undoubtedly get that head banging; if you’re after a track to download then start with this one! My main personal gripe with this album, as with 3IOB in general, is that the vocals really start to grate on me after a while; at times they sound strained and they come across as a poor man’s Halford. If you can get past that, this is solid enough and is perhaps exciting for those that are just discovering their own tastes in heavy metal, but as with all gimmicks, this one is starting to wear thin.
http://www.myspace.com/3iob
http://www.3inchesofblood.com/
http://www.centurymedia.com/
