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3 Inches of Blood is a Canadian power metal band formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 2000. They play a unique style that mostly resembles the N.W.O.B.H.M., heavy and power metal of the 1980s but with a modern touch. Their lyrical themes are also of the bands' of that era: epic fantasy, battles and the glory of heavy metal.

The group formed in 2000 in Vancouver, initially performing with only Jamie Hooper on vocals, before the addition of Cam Pipes. Hooper, Sunny Dhak and Bob Froese got together to do a one-off reunion gig for an old group of their's - however, things went so well they decided to continue under a new moniker. Death metal vocalist, Pipes heard their demo EP at the house of Hot Hot Heat keyboardist Steve Bays, a longtime friend and former bandmate. He was originally asked to add some vocals to the band's already recorded demo, Sect of the White Worm and was welcomed as a permanent member after the results proved to the band's liking. Their debut album Battlecry under a Wintersun was recorded in 2002 on the Teenage Rampage label. This release went by almost unnoticed until the band's UK distribution label decided to put them on as a support slot for a tour with platinum rock band The Darkness. This exposure gained them much critical attention and acclaim in the world of underground metal, and they were signed up by big-label subsidiary Roadrunner Records in 2004.

In 2004, original drummer Geoff Trawick and bassist brother Rich left the band. Matt Wood of Vancouver doom/sludge/noise band Goatsblood, and Brian Redman replaced them. Original guitarists, Sunny Dhak and Bob Froese left the band shortly after recording in around July of 2004 because "they could no longer commit to touring and needed to deal with some personal matters" as the band wrote on their website. They were also committed to a business that they had set up called Bloodstone Press, a union shop and party venue. It is know defunct and together with Mike Payette (who was the third of the four shareholders of Bloodstone Press) and Matt Wood (who is also an ex-3 Inches of Blood member since July of 2005 and was replaced by Alexei Rodriguez) they founded the rock band Pride Tiger. The band plays music more oriented towards '70s guitar-driven rock bands because -as Wood stated - "metal just becomes the same thing over and over. Anyway, I'm not really a metal dude. None of us are. I'm sure if you studied pictures of 3 INCHES OF BLOOD you could pick us out as not really belonging there." Sunny and Bobby were replaced by Justin Hagberg and Shane Clark. Roadrunner put out an advertising blitz, and the track "Deadly Sinners" from the band's sophomore release Advance and Vanquish appeared on numerous sampler CDs, compilations and even a video game (Tony Hawk's Underground 2) creating a huge press hype for the band that caused their popularity to skyrocket, with a slot on 2005's Road Rage tour in August (with bands like Machine Head and Chimaira) gaining them many new fans.

Also in 2005, Justin Hagberg recorded the guitars on the track "Dawn of a Golden Age" for Roadrunner United: The All Star Sessions

In October of 2006, the band opened a show for Iron Maiden during the USA leg of their 2006 A Matter of Life and Death World Tour. The show was at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, California.

As of December 2006, the band have begun recording material for their new album in Armoury Studios (AC/DC, Aerosmith and Kiss recorded there too, among others) in their hometown that will be titled Fire up the Blades, with Joey Jordison of Slipknot as producer. So far, one demo track (entitled "Goatrider's Horde") has been released, and is available for streaming on the Roadrunner Records Media web page. Another demo, entitled "Night Marauders" appeared in the fifth Battle Metal compilation CD that was released in issue 161 of the UK magazine Metal Hammer.

The band in Jan/Feb of 2007 toured the United States in support of Cradle of Filth with The 69 Eyes and in March toured the UK with Biomechanical. On March 22, 2007, the band was confirmed to play the second stage at Ozzfest. On April 6, 2007, the band's website was completely redesigned.

The bands over-the-top lyrical style, twin lead guitars and high-pitched, Rob Halford-esque vocals, combined with their appearance in official photos, which owes more to modern pop punk fashion and clothing labels such as Atticus, have lead some to dub them as a parody of the classic heavy metal acts they claim to seek to give tribute to. When questioned on this, vocalist Cam Pipes gave the following statement: "Just because we're a bunch of young guys singing about the greatness of heavy metal doesn't mean we're some joke band." Interestingly, when performing live, the band dresses far more in the manner you would expect of a heavy metal band (see Heavy Metal fashion). This is most likely down to the individual choice of the new band members that have joined 3 Inches of Blood on tour, none of whom appeared in the promo photos for Advance and Vanquish.

The band has occasionally (and erroneously) been labelled as a metalcore band. In fact, the band draws far more influence from pre-1985 heavy metal such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and other members of the N.W.O.B.H.M. Furthermore, one of the main tenets of the band's philosophy is that of a reaction to the contemporary popularity of genres such as nu-metal, metalcore and screamo. It is ironic then, that the label to which they are signed is one of the biggest for these genres. This is probably best summed-up in the words of vocalist, Jamie Hooper:

There is often confusion over which of the band's two vocalists performs each style of singing: Cam Pipes sings in falsetto style and Jamie Hooper provides the metalcore-style screams.

• Cam Pipes - Clean vocals


• Jamie Hooper - Screams


• Justin Hagberg - Guitar


• Shane Clark - Guitar


• Nick Cates - Bass


• Alexei Rodriguez - Drums

• Rich Trawick - Bass


• Geoff Trawick - Drums


• Sunny Dhak - Guitar


• Bobby Froese - Guitar


• Matt Wood - Drums


• Brian Redman - Bass


• Kevin Keegan - Guitar


• Jay Watts - Guitar