3 Inches of Blood formed in 2000 in Vancouver, British Columbia and blends heavy metal with fantasy related lyrics.  Think of them as Iron Maiden meets Dio- heavy melodic metal with songs of orcs and other mythical creatures and beings. 

3 Inches of Blood consists of 6 men.  2 singers: Cam Pipes and Jamie Hooper, lead guitar player Sunny Dhak, rhythm guitar player Bob Froese, bass player Brian Redman and drummer Matt Wood.  Jamie Hooper says that they derived their sound from late 1970’s British stuff, also early Slayer and Metallica. 

Advance and Vanquish is a 13 cut album which takes you on one hell of a journey.  The album begins with part 1 of the three part epic “Fear on the Bridge (Upon the Boiling Sea)” , “Lord of the Storm (Upon the Boiling Sea II), and “Isle of Eternal Despair (Upon the Boiling Sea III)”.  And doesn’t stop until you’ve experienced the entire journey of well, like the album is entitled, advancing and vanquishing those who stand in their way.  I love albums that read like a book.  And this is what you get with this album. 

Some tracks that stand out on this album are: “Fear on the Bridge”, “Revenge is a Vulture”, “Swordmaster”, “Crazy Nights”, and “Destroy the Orcs”.