3 Inches of Blood is a Canadian heavy metal band formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 2000. Their musical style is chiefly traditional power metal, influenced by the NWOBHM bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s. There are also some minor influences to be heard from thrash metal.
Biography
Early Years, and the Battlecry Under a Wintersun era
The group initially performed with only Jamie Hooper on vocals before the addition of Cam Pipes. Hooper, Sunny Dhak, and Bobby Froese got together to do a one-off reunion gig for an old group of theirs; however, things went so well they decided to continue under a new moniker. Pipes heard their demo EP at the house of Hot Hot Heat keyboardist Steve Bays, a longtime friend and former bandmate. He was originally asked to add some vocals to the band's already-recorded demo, Sect of the White Worm, and was welcomed as a permanent member after the results proved to the band's liking. Their debut album Battlecry Under a Wintersun was recorded in 2002 on the Megarock Records label. This release went by almost unnoticed until the band's UK distribution label decided to put them on as a support slot for a tour with platinum rock band The Darkness. This exposure gained them much critical attention and acclaim in the world of underground metal, and they were signed up by major label subsidiary Roadrunner Records in 2004.
Advance and Vanquish era
In 2004, original drummer Geoff Trawick and bassist brother Rich Trawick left the band. Matt Wood of Vancouver doom/sludge/noise band Goatsblood, and Brian Redman replaced them. Original guitarists, Sunny Dhak and Bob Froese left the band shortly after recording in around July 2004 because "they could no longer commit to touring and needed to deal with some personal matters" as the band wrote on their website. They were also committed to a business that they had set up called Bloodstone Press, a union shop and party venue. It is now defunct and together with Mike Payette (who was the third of the four shareholders of Bloodstone Press) and Matt Wood (who is also an ex-3 Inches of Blood member since July of 2005 and was replaced by Alexei Rodriguez) they founded the rock band Pride Tiger. The band plays music more oriented towards '70s guitar-driven rock bands because, as Wood stated, "metal just becomes the same thing over and over. Anyway, I'm not really a metal dude. None of us are. I'm sure if you studied pictures of 3 Inches of Blood you could pick us out as not really belonging there." Sunny and Bobby were replaced by Justin Hagberg and Shane Clark. Roadrunner put out an advertising blitz, and the track "Deadly Sinners" from the band's second release Advance and Vanquish appeared on numerous sampler CDs, compilations, and even a video game (Tony Hawk's Underground 2) creating a huge press hype for the band that caused their popularity to skyrocket, with a slot on 2005's Road Rage tour in August (with bands like Machine Head and Chimaira) gaining them many new fans.
Also in 2005, Justin Hagberg recorded the guitars on the track "Dawn of a Golden Age" for Roadrunner United: The All Star Sessions.
In October 2006, the band opened a show for Iron Maiden during the United States leg of their 2006 A Matter of Life and Death World Tour. The show was at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, California.
Fire Up the Blades era
The band wrote their entire third studio album in Tacoma, Washington and performed their new songs at various places in the vicinity of Washington. By December 2006, the band had begun to record material for their follow-up album at the Armoury Studios of their hometown, and revealed that it would be titled Fire Up the Blades, with Joey Jordison of Slipknot as producer. A demo of "Goatrider's Horde" which was recorded in Seattle in Spring 2006 was later made available for streaming on Roadrunner's official website. Another demo of "Night Marauders" appeared in the fifth Battle Metal compilation album that was released in issue 161 of the UK magazine Metal Hammer.
The band toured the United States during January and February 2007 in support of Cradle of Filth with The 69 Eyes and in March toured the UK with Biomechanical. On March 22, 2007, the band was confirmed to play the second stage at Ozzfest. On April 6, 2007, the band's website was completely redesigned.
Prior to the release of Fire Up the Blades, the band stressed that the album would be "darker, tighter and more dangerous" than their Roadrunner Records debut. "This album is heavily influenced by low quality beer, bong rips and listening to black metal in the dark," says Hooper. "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 was ultimately released in Japan on May 28, 2007, and worldwide on June 26, 2007.
Jamie Hooper's voice problems
During the 2007 Ozzfest Tour, Jamie Hooper was unable to sing with the band as he was experiencing throat problems, and was warned by doctors that he may damage his voice permanently if he did not rest it. He did not perform on the Ozzfest tour nor the Operation Annihilation tour. The screamed vocals were (and continue to be) performed by guitarist Justin Hagberg. Jamie Hooper will not perform with the band for the whole 2007-08 year. However it is expected that he will return to the band during the writing and recording process for 3 Inches Of Blood's next full length for Roadrunner Records.
Firing of Alexei Rodriguez
Following a fight with Saxon drummer Nigel Glockler on November 10, 2007 at the Hard Rock Hell festival in the UK, 3 Inches of Blood fired drummer Alexei Rodriguez and issued an apology for his behavior [13]. The fight left Glockler with broken glasses and a black eye. Four security guards intervened and beat Rodriguez severely, hospitalising Rodriguez with a broken elbow. His replacement is Ash Pearson ( Of Sound of The Swarm & Just Cause. Formerly of Angel Grinder).
Misbeliefs about the band
A parody band
The bands over-the-top lyrical style and high-pitched Rob Halford-esque vocals, combined with the appearance of some band members in their first photo shoot after signing for Roadrunner Records (which owed more to modern pop punk fashion and clothing labels such as Atticus) has led some to dub them as a parody of the classic heavy metal acts they claim to seek to give tribute to. When questioned on this, vocalist Cam Pipes gave the following statement: "Just because we're a bunch of young guys singing about the greatness of heavy metal doesn't mean we're some joke band." More recently the band have been seen to dress more in the fashion one would expect of a heavy metal band (see Heavy metal fashion). This is most likely down to the individual choice of the new band members that have joined 3 Inches of Blood on tour, none of whom appeared in the promo photos for Advance and Vanquish.
Music genre
The band has occasionally been mislabeled as a metalcore band. In fact, the band draws far more influence from pre-1985 heavy metal such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and other members of the NWOBHM. Furthermore, one of the main tenets of the band's philosophy is that of a reaction to the contemporary popularity of genres such as nu metal, metalcore, and screamo. It is ironic then, that the label to which they are signed is one of the biggest for these genres. This is probably best summed-up in the words of vocalist, Jamie Hooper:
"We're kind of in a weird position, considering the more modern leaning line-up of that label. . . . We're nu-metal's greatest enemies, so it's a weird juxtaposition for us. But let's just say that we fit in very well with their back catalogue—Annihilator, Pestilence, King Diamond, Suffocation. We're very pleased to be a part of that."
There is often confusion over which of the band's two vocalists performs each style of singing: Jaime Hooper sings the screams and growls, while Cam Pipes provides falsetto style vocals.
Band members
Current members
- Cam Pipes – vocals (2001 – present)
- Jamie Hooper – screams (2000 – present; on hiatus due to vocal injury)
- Justin Hagberg – guitar (2004 – present), screams (2007 – present)
- Shane Clark – guitar (2004 – present)
- Nick Cates – bass (2006 – present)
- Ash Pearson – drums (2007 – present)
Former members
- Bobby Froese – guitar (2000 – 2004)
- Rich Trawick – bass (2000 – 2004)
- Brian Redman – bass (2004 – 2005)
- Geoff Trawick – drums (2000 – 2004)
- Matt Wood – drums (2004 – 2005)
- Alexei Rodriguez – drums (2005 – 2007)
Discography
Albums
- Battlecry Under a Wintersun (2002)
- Advance and Vanquish (2004)
- Fire Up the Blades (2007)
EPs
- Sect of the White Worm (2001)
- Trial of Champions (2007)
Singles
- "Ride Darkhorse, Ride" (2002)
- "Destroy the Orcs" (2003)
- "Deadly Sinners" (2004)
- "The Goatriders Horde" (2007)
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