At last, an aggressive speed Metal album. It's been many years since the last time that I listened to something like Advance And Vanquish. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, let me introduce you to a band that will surely make you want to headbang from the first note of this album up to the very last one.
 3 Inches Of Blood  originally formed in 2000, in Vancouver. After a demo E.P. they released their first album, Battlecry Under A Winter Sun, in 2002. That record, full of Dungeons & Dragons fantasy imagery and lightning-quick guitar riffs, set the tone for the group. First rule of 3 Inches Of Blood: Metal. Second rule: Metal. Third rule: no angst. 3 Inches Of Blood began working on Advance And Vanquish in early 2004, determined to make it a classic Metal album in every sense.
Concerning the music of 3 Inches Of Blood, I can surely say that every one who will listen to this album will surely not forget them easily. They play classic speed Metal and their main influences must be Running Wild and Stormwarrior. At least most of their songs remind me of these two bands. Their music is very aggressive and the atmosphere of this album is Heavy Metal to the bone spreading unstoppable headbanging.
The guitar riffs are very fast and very inspired. They have many epic lines on the guitars and they can make anyone who'll listen to this album feel that he's back in the 80's. The bass and the drums are steady and flawless. Especially the drums, they're a violent bombardment without end. But, I personally think that the vocals are their strongest weapon. They have two kinds of vocal lines, the brutal/distorted ones and the paranoid ones. And when I say paranoid, I mean more paranoid than the vocals of John Greely on the Night Of The Stormrider album of Iced Earth. We have to admit that the screaming vocals of that guy were completely insane. Imagine now something even crazier.
Try to find this album at all cost. Once you've listened to it you will not be able to stop listening to it all the time. I have nothing else to say. Whoever doesn't find it, will lose.
- Album Highlights: Revenge Is A Vulture, Dominion Of Deceit, Premonition Of Pain, Lord Of The Storm (Upon The Boiling Sea II), Wykydtron, Swordmaster, Destroy The Orcs, The Phantom Of The Crimson Cloak and Isle Of Eternal Despair (Upon The Boiling Sea III).