''Fire Up the Blades'' is the third studio album by Canadian heavy metal band

3 Inches of Blood 3 Inches of Blood was a Canadian heavy metal band formed in 1999 in Victoria, British Columbia, last consisting of Cam Pipes, Justin Hagberg, Shane Clark, and Ash Pearson, none of whom were original members of the band. Their music was strongl ...

. It was released on 26 June 2007 by

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is an American record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock bands. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. History The label was launched in 1980 in t ...

and is the band's final release through the label. It is also the first release by the band to feature lead guitarist

Justin Hagberg 3 Inches of Blood was a Canadian heavy metal band formed in 1999 in Victoria, British Columbia, last consisting of Cam Pipes, Justin Hagberg, Shane Clark, and Ash Pearson, none of whom were original members of the band. Their music was strongl ...

, rhythm guitarist

Shane Clark 3 Inches of Blood was a Canadian heavy metal band formed in 1999 in Victoria, British Columbia, last consisting of Cam Pipes, Justin Hagberg, Shane Clark, and Ash Pearson, none of whom were original members of the band. Their music was strongl ...

, bassist

Nick Cates 3 Inches of Blood was a Canadian heavy metal band formed in 1999 in Victoria, British Columbia, last consisting of Cam Pipes, Justin Hagberg, Shane Clark, and Ash Pearson, none of whom were original members of the band. Their music was strongl ...

and drummer

Alexei Rodriguez Alexei Rodriguez is a Puerto Rican drummer currently with Boston-based hard rock/heavy metal band Cortez. He is known for his time in the metal band Prong (band), Prong (NYC/LA), Canadian Heavy metal music, heavy metal band 3 Inches of Blood (V ...

, the latter of whom was kicked out of the band six months later.

Background and recording

The band confirmed in February 2006 that they had begun to write new material, and by then had about four songs prepared to appear on the forthcoming album. ''Fire Up the Blades'' marks the first major role of

Joey Jordison Nathan Jonas "Joey" Jordison (April 26, 1975 – July 26, 2021) was an American musician. He was the original drummer and co-founder of the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he was designated #1, as well as the guitarist for the horror punk s ...

of Slipknot and

Murderdolls Murderdolls was an American rock music, rock band founded during 2002 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, California. The band line-up consisted of the late Joey Jordison, Wednesday 13 , Acey Slade, Eric Griffin, Tripp Eisen and the late Ben G ...

, as a

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

, who revealed that he'd been a fan of the band since their first studio album, ''

Battlecry Under a Wintersun ''Battlecry Under A Wintersun'' is the debut studio album by Canadian power metal band 3 Inches of Blood. It was released in 2002 by Megarock Records. It is the last release by the band to feature original bassist Rich Trawick and drummer Ge ...

''. Prior to the album's release, the band stressed that ''Fire Up the Blades'' would be "darker, tighter and more dangerous" than their Roadrunner Records debut. "This album is heavily influenced by low quality

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

bong A bong (also known as a water pipe) is a filtration device generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco, or other herbal substances. In the bong shown in the photo, the gas flows from the lower port on the left to the upper port on the right. ...

rips and listening to

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

in the dark," says Hooper. "It doesn't sound blatantly black metal, it still sounds like us. But it's a faster, more intense version of us." A sampler containing demo versions of "The Goatriders Horde" and "Night Marauders" began circulating the Internet in March 2007. This sampler may have been bootlegged however, as a demo version of "Night Marauders" was previously released that January on a free CD issued with that month's edition of ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'' magazine. The demo of "The Goatriders Horde" was also most likely ripped from a stream of the song which was made available on Roadrunner Records' website. On at least one occasion since the firing of drummer Alexei Rodriguez, the band has performed live with Jordison as drummer.

Lyrical themes

* "Trial of Champions" is about an enslaved

gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

who fights his way to victory, and ultimately kills the emperor. This is a reference to the

Fighting Fantasy ''Fighting Fantasy'' is a series of single-player role-playing gamebooks created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The first volume in the series was published in paperback by Puffin in 1982. The series distinguished itself by mixing Choos ...

game book of the same name, which features a similar plot. * "God of the Cold White Silence" references Ithaqua, a

Great Old One American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) created a number of fictional deities throughout the course of his literary career. These entities are usually depicted as immensely powerful and utterly indifferent to humans who can barely begin to c ...

in the

Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an ...

of H. P. Lovecraft. * "Forest King" is about

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

taking revenge on humanity. * "The Great Hall of Feasting" is about the massive dining halls of

Valhalla In Norse mythology Valhalla (;) is the anglicised name for non, Valhǫll ("hall of the slain").Orchard (1997:171–172) It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. Half of those who die in combat e ...

. * "The Hydra's Teeth" refers to

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...

and the Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece.

Track listing

Personnel

Cam Pipes Cam Pipes is a Canadian musician who performed as the lead vocalist and bassist in the heavy metal band 3 Inches of Blood. He performs a falsetto vocal style reminiscent of Udo Dirkschneider and King Diamond. Pipes was the only member of 3 Inch ...

–

clean vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Jamie Hooper 3 Inches of Blood was a Canadian heavy metal band formed in 1999 in Victoria, British Columbia, last consisting of Cam Pipes, Justin Hagberg, Shane Clark, and Ash Pearson, none of whom were original members of the band. Their music was strongl ...

–

screaming vocals Screaming is an extended vocal technique that is popular in "aggressive" music genres such as heavy metal, punk rock, and noise music and others. It is common in the more extreme subgenres of heavy metal, such as death and black metal as wel ...

–

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

– guitars *

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

–

* Dan Turner - Engineer

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2007 albums 3 Inches of Blood albums Roadrunner Records albums