3 Inches of Blood receive a warm Donington welcome
Although it has been five years since 3 Inches of Blood last appeared at Donington Download Festival, it appears the Canadian metal band have not changed much during their absence, stating that they were going to be playing "some old school traditional heavy metal" for their morning set on the Ronnie James Dio stage.
3 Inches of Blood’s mythical/fantasy metal style is very loveable, but their music seems to lack variety in a live scenario. Their 25 minute set was, however, perfect for a festival appearance, still allowing them to cover many of their favoured songs including ‘Swordmaster’ and ‘The Goatriders Horde’.
It might have been 11:45 in the morning, but they were in fine form, with vocalist Cam Pipes hitting every falsetto note with great accuracy. ‘Deadly Sinners’ was enjoyed by the fans, particularly with the Canadian frontman donning an England football shirt and showing his allegiance ahead of the England-USA World Cup game that was to take place later that day.
The long-haired metallers from Vancouver had promised traditional heavy metal and they certainly delivered. The crowd particularly loved singing along to the chorus of ‘Battles and Brotherhood’; all that was missing were plastic Viking helmets and swords for the audience and everyone would have been in heavy metal heaven!