3 Inches of Blood was a thrash/Power Metal band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada formed in 1999. Their style is inspired by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and more modern death and black metal bands, which is mostly shown through vocalist Cam Pipes's Halford-esque singing style and former vocalist Jamie Hooper's screams and growls. On their first two albums, the NWOBHM influence is seen far more than the death metal influence, but their third release, Fire Up the Blades, shows far more of the death metal influence and was described to be inspired by "low quality beer, bong hits and listening to black metal in the dark." Here Awaits Thy Doom returned to the NWOBHM influenced style.
They were often accused of being a joke band, though the band disagreed. While they acknowledged that they were ridiculously over the top, they did not consider themselves to be a joke band.
On June 2, 2015, the band has announced their disbanding and that their final performance will be in Vancouver on November 7, 2015. Ash Pearson has also joined Revocation as their new full-time drummer, which may have had something to do with the breakup; the future plans for Pipes, Hagberg, and Clark are unknown.
Final line-up:
- Cam Pipes: Vocals (2001-2015)
- Justin Hagberg: Guitar, screams, and growls (2004-2015)
- Shane Clark: Guitar (2004-2015)
- Ash Pearson: Drums (2007-2015)
Former Members:
- Jamie Hooper: Screams and growls (1999-2008, quit due to vocal injury)
- Bobby Froese: Guitar (1999-2004),
- Sunny Dhak: Guitar (1999-2004)
- Rich Trawick: Bass (1999-2004)
- Brian Redman: Bass (2004-2006)
- Nick Cates: Bass (2006-2009)
- Geoff Trawick: Drums (1999-2004)
- Matt Wood: Drums (2004-2005)
- Alexei Rodriguez: Drums (2005-2007, Fired for injuring Saxon drummer Nigel Glockler in a fight)
Discography:
- Albums:
- Battlecry Under a Wintersun (2002)
- Advance and Vanquish (2004)
- Fire Up the Blades (2007)
- Here Waits Thy Doom (2009)
- Long Live Heavy Metal (2012)
- Extended Plays:
- Sect of the White Worm (2001)
- Trial of Champions (2007)
- Singles:
- "Ride Darkhorse, Ride" (2002)
- "Destroy the Orcs" (2003)
- "Deadly Sinners" (2004)
- "The Goatrider's Horde" (2007)
- "Trial of Champions" (2007)
This band may exhibit the following tropes:
- Affectionate Parody: Averted and rejected by the band. To quote Pipes: "Just because we're a bunch of young guys singing about the greatness of Heavy Metal doesn't mean we're some joke band."
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: In the 4055, Wykydtron goes online, rebels, attacks...and wins
- And I Must Scream: The conclusion of "Upon the Boiling Sea." The pirate protagonist finds a cave full of gold and jewlery in the Isle of Eternal Despair. Due to his greed, he can never leave the cave, his body rots and he must guard the treasures for eternity as a golden skeleton. Yikes.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Every other effing song.
- The Band Minus the Face: Something is missing in Here Awaits Thy Doom with the absence of Hooper.
- Big Damn Heroes: "Battles and Brotherhood"
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: "God of the Cold White Silence."
- Bragging Theme Tune: Many. "Deadly Sinners," "Battles and Brotherhood," "Swordmaster," "Metal Woman," and "Look Out."
- Burn the Witch!: "All of them Witches"
- Can't Hold His Liquor: The root of why Rodriguez was fired, as he was apparently drunk as shit when he got in a fight with Nigel Glockler and was apparently also a pretty sloppy drunk to begin with.
- Corrupt Church: "Dominion of Deceit," which is about a pagan rebellion against a church.
- Cover Version: They did a cover of In the Time of Job When Mammon Was a Yippie.
- Darker and Edgier: Or rather, Harder and Faster with Fire Up The Blades.
- Death by Materialism: The fates of the pirates in the Story Arc "Upon the Boiling Sea" save for the captain. The ship is sunk by a massive storm which kills all but the captain. See above for his fate.
- Evil Tower of Ominousness: "The Black Spire."
- Evil Weapon: "Axes of Evil."
- Food Porn: "The Hall of Feasting." It's about...feasting.
- Gaia's Vengeance: "The Forest King."
- Genre Blindness: The Emperor in "The Trial of Champions" video. He really shouldn't have turned his back on the winner.
- Gladiator Revolt: "The Trial of Champions."
- Grim Up North: "God of the Cold White Silence," and "Foot of the Great Glacier."
- Happy Ending: The end of "The Hydra's Teeth" has a Mood Whiplash near the end of the story.
- Heavy Meta:
- "Deadly Sinners" and "Cities on Flame With Rock & Roll".
- Their latest album is even titled Long Live Heavy Metal.
- Heavy Mithril: They ARE this trope.
- A Hell of a Time: "Rock In Hell" and "Key to Oblivion."
- Hold the Line: "Fierce Defender."
- Humans Are Cthulhu: In "The Forest King." But then they get punched.
- An Ice Person: "God of the Cold White Silence."
- In Name Only: Jamie, the last founding member to leave, did so in 2008.
- Metal Scream
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Several of their song titles.
- Wykydtron
- The Goatrider's Hoard
- The God of the Cold White Silence
- The Phantom of the Crimson Cloak
- The Isle of Eternal Despair
- The Execution Tank
- Pirate Metal: Upon the Boiling Sea, Parts 1 through 4, tell a pirate's tale that does not end well.
- Preacher's Kid: "The Preacher's Daughter." Who, in the song, Really Gets Around.
- Professional Killers: "Assassins of the Light" and "Silent Killer."
- Prophecies Are Always Right: "Premonition of Pain"
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Um, every song?
- Religion Rant Song: Dominion of Deciet.
- Revenge Is A Vulture: His head placed on a pike for all to see!
- "Destroy the Orcs" is about a man finding his family has been slain by Orcs. Taking his broadsword in his hand, he follows them to their camp and has his vengeance in blood.
- Soprano and Gravel: In a modified variant as Pipes' high pitched singing can be considered a harsh style by those not versed in metal singing styles. Hooper's vocals are a far more straightforward example of harsh.
- Start My Own: Jamie Hooper helped found the death metal/crust act Erosion with members of Baptists in the 2010s.
- Tank Goodness: "Execution Tank."
- Troperiffic
- When Trees Attack: "The Forest King."