If the early Metallica was nicknamed “Alcoholica” due to how much its members drank, then perhaps 3 Inches of Blood should be dubbed “3 Barrels of Beer”. When the Straight meets vocalist Jamie Hooper and guitarist Shane Clark for an interview at the Downtown Eastside’s Metropole Pub, Hooper refers obsessively throughout to the beverage that fuels both the musical inspiration and the leisure pursuits of the Vancouver-based metal sextet. Although Stellas are on special for $3.75, the former University of Victoria anthropology student laments not being able to order a cold one: “I’ve got 33 cents in my pocket and zero in the bank.”

Hopefully the economic picture will brighten with the June 26 release of Fire Up the Blades, the band’s third studio album since forming in 2000. It puts an extreme twist on fantasy-driven, early-’80s-style headbanging. Boozy jam sessions in Tacoma, Washington, spawned 13 fist-pumping tracks that were recorded at four different Vancouver and Seattle studios.

“The benefit of going down to Tacoma was that sometimes hating where you are can write some good songs,” says the heavily bearded and tattooed Clark.

Adds Hooper: “If we were up here the whole time, we’d be drunk on Third Beach instead of writing.”

On the new CD, the distinctive 3 Inches vocal sound remains intact, as Hooper’s raw, metalcore screams offset the Rob Halford–like falsetto shrieking of Cam Pipes. The goblet-raising, Iron Maiden–esque dual-guitar attack that opens “Forest King” has a familiar ring too. But according to Clark, the overall vibe is darker than on 2004’s Advance and Vanquish, which yielded such live favourites as “Deadly Sinners” and “Revenge Is a Vulture”.

“There’s a little bit of a black-metal influence,” he offers, “plus some of the ’80s thrash from California, like the Bay Area scene and Slayer.”

The cataclysmic blast-beats of drummer Alexei Rodriguez on “Infinite Legions” also testify to the influence of producer Joey Jordison, best-known as Slipknot’s skin-beater.

“We originally met Joey when we toured with a Norwegian black-metal band called Satyricon, and he was playing drums with them,” Hooper explains. “Joey’s been a fan of our band since the first record. He’s signed to Roadrunner like us, and when we were looking for producers, he expressed an interest, and we were like, ‘Why not? He’s an encyclopedia of underground rock and metal.’ I think it came out really well.”

Lyrically, “Infinite Legions” seems to step away from the band’s usual Dungeons & Dragons world by bashing religion-based conflict with lines like “They’d kill for their faith or die” and “Can you explain why it is the Lord’s will?” “It’s up to everybody to listen to our music and get what they want out of it,” Clark says. “We don’t have any political agenda.”

“Except for our desire to eradicate the Christian plague from the face of the Earth,” Hooper quips. “Otherwise, there are no sociopolitical messages whatsoever!”

Hooper and Pipes are the only two members who have appeared on all three 3 Inches albums, and this raises the question of whether they’re crazed band dictators like Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, shuffling their lineup on the slightest whim.

“We always get that: ‘I hear you kicked everybody out of your band,’?” says Hooper. “It’s like, ‘No, they decided they had better things to do.’?”

Clark, who joined the band in 2004 after the recording of Advance and Vanquish, opines that not everyone is cut out for nonstop metal and relentless touring. If there’s any resentment toward drummer Matt Wood and guitarists Sunny Dhak and Bob Froese, the ex–3 Inchers whose new band, Pride Tiger, graced the Straight’s June 14 cover, Hooper and Clark don’t let it show, claiming they party with their old mates whenever possible.

With nearly 50 gigs scheduled between June 28 and September 2, 3 Inches of Blood will also get plenty of chances to party on the road. Making their Ozzfest debut this year, they’ll play 20-minute second-stage sets, plus off-dates with Lamb of God, Hatebreed, and Behemoth. Are they poised for a big mainstream breakthrough?

“If you keep your expectations at zero, anything that happens to you, whether it’s a free beer or getting to play with Iron Maiden, is a wonderful surprise,” Hooper says. “A lot of bands go in saying, ‘We’re going to be the next Metallica or Maiden,’ and they end up being ungrateful clowns, because they feel they’re owed something.”

But these guys are content to celebrate old-school metal values. They tout the enthusiasm of fans who sometimes show up at their shows brandishing Uruk-Hai swords or gory trophies like severed deer heads. If it all ended tomorrow, Hooper and Clark would return to their old bicycle-courier and pipe-fitter jobs, respectively. “Bands don’t last forever,” Clark says. “So seize the day, and try to leave some kind of legacy.”

And drink a few beers while rewatching Conan the Barbarian on the tour bus.

3 Inches of Blood plays its Fire Up the Blades release party at Richard’s on Richards next Thursday (June 28).