Metal Underground.com

Remember the days of denim and leather? When the extreme amount of hairspray used caused a hole to open in the ozone layer? Remember when rock rocked? Well I don’t. I was born in 1988 when all of this was happening, and so were many of you reading this. For those of us who weren’t around in the glory days of thrash, we have some bands who are willing to help us know what it was like; one of the best being 3 Inches of Blood.

Images of Accept spring up in my mind as the album begins with “Battles and Brotherhood.” Cam Pipe’s pipes are very reminiscent of Udo Dirkschneider. He growls at a very high pitch, but it’s not girly, it’s very manly. The backup vocalist and guitarist Justin Hagberg lends his more death metal vocals in some songs, including “Silent Killer,” to break up the extreme pitches Cam hits. Each word is clear and understandable from both vocalists, which makes this a great album to pull quotes from. Some of my favorites are “Will you be there to rock in hell?” from “Rock in Hell” and “On ourselves we rely/ find the courage/ to last another day” from “Fierce Defender.”

The most interesting aspect of “Here Waits Thy Doom” is the different types of songs they make. The first four songs are a mixture of thrash metal music and power metal lyrics and vocals. These songs were a bit less chaotic and more carefully constructed than they were in “Fire up the Blades.” The fifth song “Preachers Daughter” was a bluesy rock song about a bad girl corrupting the men folk of the town. To some, it may seem corny. To me and others who love rock n’ roll and not just metal, it’s great. I miss plain ol’ rock n’ roll sometimes and I enjoy hearing the occasional rock song by a new band, instead of listening to the old rock songs on the radio over and over again.

The next four songs “Call of the Hammer,” “Snake Fighter,” “Great Glacier,” and “All of them Witches” (named after a book in the film Rosemary’s Baby) are more thrash metal than power metal. They are definite head bangers. The guitars shred up and down. The solos are amazing and really show off the talents of guitarists Justin Hagberg and Shane Clark. I was actually disappointed that the guys didn't do more shredding. The riffs were great, but the solos were awesome, and we were left hungry for more. “1234” was an all acoustic, slow jam. It was an unexpected treat from an extreme band. The album ended with a bang on “Execution Tank.”

3 Inches of Blood will make you remember the birth of the thrash that they play. No, it’s not the scariest shit on Earth, and they don’t want it to be. This music was made for rockin’ out, which is something that’s taken for granted these days while everyone is just trying to impress you with deep thought or Satanism. Rock out with your cock out (Please don't take that literally.)