3 Inches of Blood – ‘Long Live Heavy Metal’ [Album Review]

It’s the middle of March and I’ve finally found the first album guaranteed to make my year end list of favorites. 3 Inches of Blood have really amped things up on this release and I couldn’t more stoked. I know a lot of people dismiss them because they have sort of an 80’s retro, flashback sound with that classic NWOBHM riffage and tons of screechy, screaming vocals, but this is precisely why I totally dig them. At times I can see where some might think it’s a bit campy or overdone, but not me. I honestly dig the heck out of this disc; it’s so catchy, it’s so energetic and most of all, it’s straight up fist-pumping, head-banging metal.

As far as I am concerned it doesn’t get much better than tunes like “My Sword Will Not Sleep” or “Dark Messenger”. These songs are as metal as you can get and they beg to be played at full volume. The rest of the disc is not far behind either, even the two instrumentals, “Chief and the Blade” and “One For The Ditch”, while mostly acoustic, work extremely well. The overall production of this disc is also worth mentioning; it is big, punchy, hard and heavy, just like a great metal album should be. I highly recommend checking this record out… I know it’s going to be in regular rotation in my player for the foreseeable future.

Track Listing:

01. Metal Woman
02. My Sword Will Not Sleep
03. Leather Lord
04. Chief and the Blade
05. Dark Messenger
06. Look Out
07. 4000 Torches
08. Leave It on the Ice
09. Die For Gold
10. Storming Juno
11. Men Of Fortune
12. One For The Ditch

Run Time: 52:51
Release Date: March 26, 2012