Fire up the Blades Review

Fire Up the Blades is the third studio album by Canadian power metal band 3 Inches of Blood. It was released on June 26, 2007.

The band confirmed in February 2006 that they had begun writing new material, and recently there are four songs that are to appear on their forthcoming album on Roadrunner Records. A demo of a song titled "Goatrider's Horde" recorded in Seattle in Spring 2006 is available for streaming on Roadrunner's official website.

This album marks Joey Jordison's (Slipknot, ex-Murderdolls) first major role as a producer, who said that he'd been a fan of the band since their first studio album, Battlecry under a Wintersun, however he previously produced several select tracks on the Roadrunner United album, The All-Star Sessions. It is also the first studio album to feature the band's new line-up (other than vocalists Cam Pipes and Jamie Hooper, all the members are new recruits).

According to the band, the album will be "Darker, tighter and more dangerous" than their Roadrunner Records debut. "This album is heavily influenced by low quality beer, bong rips and listening to black metal in the dark," Hooper says. "It doesn't sound blatantly black metal, it still sounds like us. But it's a faster, more intense version of us."

A 2-song sampler containing album versions of "Goatrider's Horde" and "Night Marauders" began circulating the internet in March 2007.

A video of 3 Inches of Blood performing "Trial of Champions" live with Joey Jordison on drums has also been posted here on the Roadrunner Records YouTube Channel.

The import version will feature "Nocturnal Command" as an added track.

There was also a demo version of "Night Marauders" released on a free CD with the January 2007 edition of Metal Hammer magazine.