3 Inches of Blood – Here Waits Thy Doom

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On the back of a few successful support tours comes the fourth album from the American band who peddle “battle metal” lyrics over a traditional twin-guitar sound, with a little thrash for good measure. However, the novelty of 3 Inches of Blood’s sound has worn off somewhat, and what they’ve produced here has very of genuine interest. Barely any of the songs are as good as those on Advance & Vanquish or Fire Up The Blades and mostly just end up sounding like a rehash of the last two with less interesting riffs (apart from the bridge in Call of The Hammer) and far fewer hooks. All of Them Witches is probably the closest they’ve gotten musically to Iron Maiden and some of the best guitar solos, but again offers very little that sounds particularly original. Snake Fighter‘s chorus sounds like it’s trying to match the popularity of Deadly Sinners, while other tracks suffer terminally from some horifically clichéd lyrics (Rock In Hell). And for a band who pride themselves on being ‘pure’ metal, the guitar are surprisingly less-than-heavy. The band have made no advancement at all here and the only interest at all comes with some of the lead playing, like that in seven-minute closer Execution Tank, which is probably the albums best moment along with acoustic instrumental 12/34. Fans will buy it anyway, but will probably be reaching for Advance & Vanquish after one listen.

Written by Andy Lye
More: Albums, Heavy Metal, Quick.Play Reviews, 3 Inches of Blood