AlbumsNovember 29, 201114,808 views

3 Inches Of Blood Advance and Vanquish


Advance and Vanquish
01. Fear On The Bridge (Upon the Boiling Sea I) 02. Deadly Sinners MP3 03. Revenge Is A Vulture 04. Dominion Of Deceit 05. Premonition Of Pain 06. Lord Of The Storm (Upon The Boiling Sea II) 07. Wykydtron 08. Swordmaster 09. Axes Of Evil 10. Crazy Nights 11. Destroy The Orcs 12. The Phantom Of The Crimson Cloak 13. Isle Of Eternal Despair (Upon The Boiling Sea III)
2004 Roadrunner Records
Our score 9

by Cory
11/5/2004

It has been a big year or so for 3 Inches of Blood. Signing to Roadrunner, getting a lot of media attention and being on quite a few high profile tours has all helped to build anticipation for their new full-length, the follow-up to the phenomenal "Battlecry Under A Wintersun." While some may write off any band that can be most accurately described as modern power metal, 3 Inches of Blood manages to do what so many of their contemporaries do not: keep things from getting too serious. While it is obvious these guys take their music (and their image) seriously, the knowing winks and nudges are all here, assuring the listener that this is more about having fun and keeping the fiery (and occassionally silly) spirit of metal alive than breaking new artistic ground. While the musical and thematic elements of 3 Inches of Blood have remained basically the same (editor's note: oddly though, both guitarists recently quit the group), two aspects have received a major upgrade. The first great improvement comes in the form of production. While not necessarily as deep or booming as some of Iron Maiden's 80's classics, it is easily as clean. Every note, drum hit, shriek and bass line stand out beautifully, letting the band's talent shine through at every moment on the disc. This is no doubt due in part to the substantially increased studio money and time that being on Roadrunner undoubtedly affords them. Thankfully, that support didn't seem to result in any sort of effort to "reach a broader audience," as 3 Inches of Blood has not strayed from their signature style in the least. The second thing that is immediately evident on Advance and Vanquish is the band's increased discipline and diligence. Their older material definitely showed a band overflowing with talent, but there were certainly moments that could have been stronger or more complex in some ways. This disc is one of the most competently written metal albums I've heard in years. Each riff, solo and drum fill feels expertly engineered to complement the song and every lyric Cam Pipes belts out is as traditionally metal as the last. Notable cuts include the finished version of "Deadly Sinners," which first surfaced on the MTV Headbanger's Ball compilation last year. This cut alone is worth the cost of your proverbial admission into the fantasy world that is Advance and Vanquish. The redone "Destroy The Orcs" is a definite crowd-pleaser as it is a stunning rendition of my favorite track off their last record. Bottom Line: 3 Inches of Blood's Advance and Vanquish is a 50 minute, over-the-top metal adventure, complete with orcs, axes, dungeons and dragons. It revisits the foundations of modern metal and takes them in a new direction. While their last album introduced the world to a band with an idea so old it seemed revolutionary, this album fulfills the promise without the sort of limitations that they faced without major label support. If you are interested in songwriting over sheer brutality, metal over "metalcore" or musical chops over mosh parts, you owe it to yourself to listen to 3 Inches of Blood. This is a no-brainer addition to my list of top releases this year.

35 comments

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canwestartagain_ 11/5/2004 2:41:14 PM

first post, f*ck you all.

Simon_Belmont_ 11/5/2004 2:42:24 PM

i thought this record was pretty good too, and im not really into this kind of stuff

hotaction_ 11/5/2004 2:54:38 PM

this cd is great and ive always loved 3 inches but i feel that this cd shouldve gotten an 8/10 simply because i feel that some songs seem very week. maybe if it was a little shorter. still great cd. and i may be wrong but after the departure of the their 2 guitarists, cam pipes is the only original member. crazy

kevin_lovelost_ 11/5/2004 2:58:14 PM

9 out of 10? hmm

jack3IOB_ 11/5/2004 3:51:23 PM

OOOH, you like our music! boo f*cking hoo. Cry me a river fanboy. We have more talent in our little finger than you do in your whole body. What band do you play for tough guy? huh? probably some bull shit in flames rifoff. gays.

Tron_ 11/5/2004 4:09:32 PM

"Enemies of metal, your death is our reward" That is a f*ckin 10 right there.

get dead, bitch!_ 11/5/2004 4:13:40 PM

how did this review get the same rating as arsis? you need to bring back the out of 100 rating instead of out of 10. because the difference between a 96 and a 91 are significant. i've noticed that there is no reasoning behind cory's reviews. he either praises the album endlessly and then just gives it a nine or beats around the bush for 4 paragraphs and then drop a random number. there are no mathematics to it! no reasoning, man!

Tom_ 11/5/2004 4:18:42 PM

Seriously, I saw these guys live and thought they were "The Darkness" of heavy metal. Although I did enjoy chanting "Balls" at the top of my lungs. Dragons and wizards to ya!

Ken Wregget_ 11/5/2004 4:24:29 PM

HORRIBLE ALBUM ALBUM, BIASED REVIEW, COPYCAT BAND WITH NO TALENT WHO ARE SO FACELESS THEY REPLACED HALF THE BAND RECENTLY! f*ck THAT.

HOX_ 11/5/2004 5:28:19 PM

This band is a joke, right? Sort of a Spinal Tap of 2000?

hotaction_ 11/5/2004 8:11:37 PM

no! there as real as real can be (well kinda) and if you cannot appreciate 3 inches then you are a true enemy of metal! flesh of metal, leather spikes and swords!

hotaction_ 11/5/2004 8:13:15 PM

ignore those spelling errors

halibut_again_ 11/5/2004 10:03:51 PM

this band is just a watered down rip off of iron maiden and hammerfall. if you appreciate this type of music, the top album of the year in this style would be the new Dragonforce, Sonata Arctica, or Edguy. this just isn't that good, the drummer is not impressive and the singing sounds way too forced (this comes from someone who likes gamma ray and helloween)

Dethroned_ 11/6/2004 4:32:52 AM

I laugh at some of the vocals but overall this cd rules.

dutchstep_ 11/6/2004 9:07:26 AM

why would anyone bother listening to this band when you can just listen to Dragonforce?

chrisxcreepcore_ 11/6/2004 9:28:32 AM

this shit is straight up f*cking awesome. 'nuf said

Cory_ 11/6/2004 11:31:14 AM

3 Inches of Blood is better than Dragonforce and far less silly, due largely to the fact that they don't take themselves quite so seriously. I love power metal. I love Iron Maiden AND Hammerfall AND 3 Inches of Blood. This CD is good, this is the review that I wrote and all y'all bitches can suck it.

ELJustin_ 11/6/2004 8:46:58 PM

sad when real bands that play this type of stuff (hammerfall) get made fun of, but when it's "ironic" it's amazing. thumbs down.

Murph_ 11/6/2004 11:54:04 PM

Power metal is homoerotic. Period.

Lukecubed_ 11/7/2004 12:44:22 PM

Yeh irony is better, cos see, that means they're aware of how ridiculous and cliche the genre in which they exist is. Metal is often such a f*cking fantasyland - whether its power metal, death metal, or black metal - so a little humor goes along way towards showing that people "get it," and are self-conscious about what they're doing, rather than a bunch of LRPGing D&D nerds. In other words, it's easier to take kitsch seriously when its presenting itself as such, because it's kitch either fuc

halibut_again_ 11/7/2004 3:46:10 PM

it comes off as gimmicky and insincere to me, but above all that, the main problem is that it just isn't really that good. and depending on who you ask, dressing up in corpse paint, or singing about dragons may or may not be any more stupid than a band wearing hoodies in july and singing about scene unity.

Lukecubed_ 11/8/2004 2:16:32 AM

Who said it was? All that scenester stuff verges on self-parody. And there would be nothing wrong with that, except most scenesters take it so seriously. But don't listen to me. I don't know crap about power metal or whatever. It all sounds like Iron Maiden kareoke to me.

Lukecubed_ 11/8/2004 2:28:49 AM

Listening to this mp3 tho, this is better than 95% of the power metal I've heard.

Cory_ 11/8/2004 1:33:28 PM

It's as simple as this: Anyone who doesn't like this record is an enemy of metal. A metal-hater. It is our duty as warriors with hearts of steel to destroy these so-called metal-haters. Their death is our reward.

Tom_ 11/8/2004 4:45:50 PM

3 inches of Blood= Heavy Metal Hamlet

paul_ 11/10/2004 8:41:39 AM

shit band / shit mp3 / no listen to rest of album ever. and f*ck Iron Maiden too.

joemama_ 11/12/2004 10:48:32 AM

by far worst shit ive ever heard on this site

twodegresbelow_ 11/20/2004 8:40:50 AM

you dorks defending this crap saying it's "real metal" are f*cking clueless. this shit is f*cking whack. if you think this is real metal, you probably got into the genre a few years back and own an atreyu cd. f*ck this crap. it's still not cool when hardcore kinds pretend to play metal.

nightmare_ 11/21/2004 3:32:08 PM

this shit rocks hard. i cant really see how you can compare this to dragonforce. well i mean obviously theyre both power metal, but 3 inches is doing a different thing. i like, the vocals are ridiculous, they might be a joke, like that btbam track on s/t. oh well, i like the riffing on this shit, if you cant appreciate, well, thats just your own opinion then

Mike_ 4/28/2005 3:43:35 PM

I hate this band.

the warrior_ 7/28/2005 6:39:49 PM

the best parts of maiden without having to listen to maiden. awesome album. love the vocals. sounds like music i could crash a jet fighter to.

fraser_ 8/11/2005 8:27:31 PM

i saw 3 inches of blood in my hometown of pg they are the f*cking shit. they got all the talent needed to be succesful and they gonna make it. long live power metal

Raco_ 8/15/2005 2:02:02 AM

Anyone who doesn't like this album is a total dipshit. Good review, Cory. f*ck the rest of you guys.

h4unt3dfx_ 9/6/2005 12:22:38 PM

Haha, wow. Well this review explains everything. 9/10? Hahaha! Cory, you probably own a battle axe with some homemade armor and are yearning to DESTROY THE ORCS.

ktownhcore_ 4/26/2006 8:00:03 PM

all you haters off 3 inches shut up.....they are not no geek ass warlord lame band (eventhough the lyrics say so) they are from vancouver drug capital of north amarica.....and they like to get f*cked up and put on shows lasting to 3 in the morning......i knew this band before alll you f*ckers so if you dont like them f*ck you alll