3 Inches of Blood – Fire Up the Blades

Fear not! The blades are sharpened and the Blood is back! Albeit, there’s no talk of Orcs, Fire Up the Blades translates quite literally to ’13 tracks of musical sex’. Straight out of the gate with the rhythmic pulse of ‘Through the Horned Gate’, the wailing double act of the aptly named Cam Pipes and Jamie Hooper forge a path in the darkest forests of Canada for you to follow them through. On your travels you interact with the Forest King himself, face off with deadly assassins, charge with the goatrider’s horde, and ultimately rejoice in the fires of man’s demise. What more could you want? Following up the A+ release Advance and Vanquish was always going to be a monumental task, but with the right balance of beer and black metal, anything can be achieved. Fire Up the Blades is not only progressive musically, but sets a very high bar for all true metal bands to follow. The first half of the album is repeat worthy, and after you are done screeching and doing your best “I’m holding an orb in my hand, and a microphone in the other” impression, the remaining 7 tracks will not fail to impress. It’s thrashy, it’s downright awesome, and it’s an honest tribute to what started it all…

Rating: 10/10

Review by Aidan Gray

(+179 rating, 43 votes)

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