3 Inches of Blood Got ‘More Obsessed’ Thanks to Rush Documentary

It's been nearly two years since 3 Inches of Blood graced us with a new album of pure metal terror. Though plans are still just that for a long player from the Canadian outfit, three songs were just recorded to give fans something to gnaw on until the blessed and leather-spiked release day.

When Noisecreep caught up with frontman Cam Pipes, the band was en route to a show. "We we're just reflecting on what kind of vibe these two songs have," Pipes admitted, with cell reception fleeting in the Idaho fields. "It maintains some kind of feel that we had going on the last record."

He continued, keeping exact details tucked away from discussion. "I don't like to look back and 'Well let's try and do something like this record a few years ago.' Let's move on and play what we think sounds kick ass and is fun to play."

One thing that's clearly fun for the metal throwback band is playing covers when the chance permits, especially when it comes to the monsters of prog Rush. In the aforementioned recording session, the band laid down a Rush song. "It's an early one," Pipes teased. "I don't really want to say which one. We want to surprise people."

Covering Rush was admittedly not an easy task, particularly when the goal was to honor the iconic band more than make the song their own. Even bass was fingered rather than picked, keeping the song as close to the original as possible.

"Rush is kind of an out-of-nowhere band for anyone to cover, because they're so unique and a lot of the songs -- most of the songs -- are difficult to play," said the frontman. "This one that we did definitely had its challenges, so we had to be very meticulous learning how to play it properly and record it properly to do it justice, too."

Pipes was clear 3 Inches of Blood have always been fans of one of their home country's biggest acts, but it was the recent documentary film 'Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage' that inspired the band to cover a song.

"Someone lent [the film] to us and we watched it in our RV in the summer, and I think we watched it back to back twice the same night. We just kept watching it. Even my dad called me after flying home from overseas and asked if I'd seen the Rush doc -- he doesn't know much about hard rock or metal or anything," he revealed. "I think we all became a little more obsessed with Rush."

As for where these three songs will end up, the home for the Rush cover is still up in the air at this point. "I don't know if there will be an actual physical thing for people to purchase or whatever. There will be a song online to download and another song is going to a magazine compilation, I think."