3 INCHES OF BLOOD - Fire Up The Blades
July 20, 2007, 17 years ago
(Roadrunner)
When listening to 3 Inches Of Blood's third release it's hard not to think that this would be the album Steve Harris would generate if he were a pup entering the fray now. Instead of being influenced by Thin Lizzy, Wishbone Ash and a bevy of progressive ‘70s acts, 'Arry would be coloured by later generation acts like Exodus, Defleshed and of course, Iron Maiden themselves. Barely stopping between tracks, 3 Inches Of Blood exhale metal through their pours on this ode to Maiden on amphetamines. And, man, the dual vocal approach works wonders here, one all hardcore throat-shredding and the other gonad-squeezing, impossible highs sounding like a deranged (and sadly deceased) Frank Starr of The Four Horsemen fame. This has widespread mass appeal to the metal community: at one end, the more commercial banger will soak up the amazing dual guitar interplay, while at the other end, more extreme metal heads will revel in the over-the-top energy. Highlights are littered throughout like condoms at a Las Vegas convention, but special mention has to be made of 'Trial Of Champions' due to its inclusion of Jon Lord-ian keys making this ditty shine atop what is a mountain of metallic material.
