Are 3 Inches of Blood The New Angel Witch?

A few months ago I stumbled upon a band called 3 Inches of Blood while randomly surfing through bands on the web. Initially, they impressed me with their NWBHM guitar work and the falsetto vocals among modern growls and screams. I was impressed to the point that I decided to support them by going out and seeing them live at the Mode Club. They put on a high level energy performance. It is there that I decided to buy their latest Cd: Here Waits Thy Doom.

To bee honest, HWTD is not a bad album. It has some great songs like Battles and Brotherhood and Execution Tank. However, I couldn't help to think that something was missing. After doing some research, I found out what the problem might be: HWTD was the first album not to feature any original members. As a mater of fact, what I discovered is that 3IoB has had a revolving door policy since its inception. After some research I discovered that, since it's inception in 2000, they had over 14 members. HWTD is a transitional album where the band is slowly fazing out its scremo vocals in favor of a more NWBHM sound.

To the fan that has followed 3ioB from the beginning, the band's appeal consisted of the screaming vocals of Jamie Hopper fused with the falsetto vocal styling of Cam Pipes which trade off with of aggressive NWBHM guitar leads. Since the departure of Jamie Hopper for "medical reasons" the guitar player took over the screaming vocals on live shows and on some songs off the new album. However, you can tell that this is a band in transition.

Musicians need to realize that the make up of a band is a delicate ecology based on the interaction of 3-6 different musicians who are individual spirits. The sound that a the band produces is build on the contribution of each member. I am not solely talking about about writing credits either. Though a band with a sole composer is more likely to go through a line up change with minimal consequences, there will always be a steady lineup that will forever be considered a fan favorite. One example of that is Megadeth. Though they managed to release some good material in the last decade, their 1990-1997 line up will forever be looked upon as the highlight of their career.

Many bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Van Halen had to learn this the had way. When they tried to replace their vocalists with competent replacements, they started to loose old fans wile failing to attract a significant number of new fans. This resulted in lost revenue do to slumming album sales and concert attendance. Thankfully those bands decided to resolve their differences before totally ruining the empire that they have toiled over their entire lives. However many never manage to recover.

The most tragic example of a band who could not get their line up straight must be the story of Angel Witch. This is a band that was right on the forefront of the NWBHM movement. In 1980, they recoded a groundbreaking self titled debut album. However before the album was officially released, their lineup began crumbling. What pursued was an endless revolving door policy totaling 23 members. What I found most amusing about the Angel Witch saga was its short stint in the U.S. The story goes like this: at one point singer Kevin Heybourne, after many failed attempts at stabilizing the band in the U.K, tried transferring the band to America by getting American musicians. The American line up got off to a promising start. However, Kevin Heybourne managed to get deported "back across the pond" for failing to have the right paper work just days before their first gig. This is an interesting story and I encourage all to check out their Wikipedia page for the complete story.

The point is, when a band finds their sound, achieves a moderate level of success, but cannot keep their line up straight, the new members are stuck imitating the former members in order to remain honest to their sound. Or, on the flip side, the new members change the sound so dramatically that the music is no longer resonating with the original fans. The perfect example of that is Tony Iommi and his 80's and early 90's incarnations of "Black Sabbath."

3ioB need to do some major thinking about weather or not to continue under that name. A band is a delicate ecology build on human interaction. And just like we have been learning in school since grade school, the smallest disturbances can have great consequences down the road.