3 INCHES OF BLOOD Guitarist Talks New Album, Lineup Changes

Don de Leaumont of The Great Southern Brainfart recently conducted an interview with guitarist Shane Clark of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based metallers 3 INCHES OF BLOOD. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

The Great Southern Brainfart: You guys are just about to release "Long Live Heavy Metal". Have you seen a significant growth in the band since your last album, "Here Awaits Thy Doom"?

Shane: Yeah. Totally. I took a listen to "Here Awaits Thy Doom" and to me it sounds like we've come so far since that record as songwriters and as players. One thing I hear, personally, is just growth in the songwriting and growth in the playing and just as a band. This is the first time that the same lineup has done two records, and you can hear the growth of the four guys who did the last record doing this one.

The Great Southern Brainfart: As you said, this is the second album you've done with a stable, cohesive lineup. Did this make things much easier for you than on past albums with the various lineup changes?

Shane: Oh, yes, definitely. All the other records all felt like a first-time thing, because there were lineup changes. On the last album, Ash [Peterson; drummer] had just joined the band that year and we were still getting to know Ash as a drummer. We went through all of the growing pains with this lineup on the last record, so now that we have nearly a solid two years of touring together and playing these songs, this album came very quickly. We wrote and recorded this one in a pretty short period of time.

The Great Southern Brainfart: Was the recording process any different this time around?

Shane: Yeah. We took a very different approach to this one. I would say that "Here Awaits Thy Doom" was a little more lo-fi than the previous two album. I would say that "Long Live Heavy Metal" is a lot closer to the two albums before "Here Awaits They Doom". It's very crisp and it's fucking huge sounding. This album is definitely Cam Pipes' [lead vocalist] best-recorded performance to date. It's unbelievable. When you listen to this new album, you're going to be totally blown away. Everyone is playing better. With every album you hope to get better and I really think we have and you can definitely hear it.

The Great Southern Brainfart: How much quicker did this one come together for you?

Shane: We spent less time writing. The songs came to us really fast and we were just so stoked at how the songs were coming together. We just bashed out a bunch of songs and picked the best ones that fit together, rehearsed the fuck out of them and just hit the studio. That's the key. It's also very economical to do it that way. I remember Lemmy saying years ago about recording , "Don't waste your money and write in the studio. Write an album, rehearse the fuck out if and spend minimal time in the studio recording it." That's the template that we've been working with for a long time.

The Great Southern Brainfart: Speaking of solidifying a line up, you guys also announced recently that you've recruited Byron Stroud [FEAR FACTORY, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD] as your new bassist. What took you guys so long to find a full time bassist?

Shane: We've had a few bass players where the touring thing was just a bit heavy for them and they basically had to change their life to try and make it work. We just don't have the time to break someone in who's green to the scene. We needed somebody who's at our level and a life. We had a few righteous dudes play bass over the last couple of years. One guy in particular almost made it but he decided that he didn't want to do a whole other album cycle and tour. I've known Byron for many years for like 12 or 13 years. I used to tech for STRAPPING YOUNG LAD and that's how I got to know him well. He actually filled in for us about two years ago on the SLIPKNOT tour. He's is just a full-blown heavy metal bass player and that's the kind of guy we need. He's not inexperienced with being in a band and what that means.

Read the entire interview from The Great Southern Brainfart.

"Leather Lord" audio stream: