Christopher Lee, "The Bloody Verdict of Verden"

Years before Nicolas Cage turned The Wicker Man into a punchline, Christopher Lee created one of the most chilling and original villains in cinema history. That alone would seal his place as a badass, but thankfully he lived on to lend his talents to The Man with the Golden Gun, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and more. He also released two symphonic metal albums, and at age 90, was the oldest man (and surely the only knight) to ever perform on a metal album.



"The Bloody Verdict of Verden" is campy, albeit no more so than any number of popular symphonic or power metal bands (Manowar and Rhapsody of Fire, both of whom Lee collaborated with, included). It's no novelty, either. Even without his cinematic cred, Lee has the vocal chops for metal, delivering the song with the power and conviction that most mortals can only dream of. Keep shedding the blood of the Saxon men, Sir Christopher.

3 Inches of Blood, "Violent Sinners"

I'm sorry to see 3 Inches of Blood announce their breakup this week. The BC (British Columbia, not Before Christ) quartet were ferocious live, and infected the NWOBNHM-inspired music with enough black metal and death metal, not to mention killer hooks, to rise above the neo-NWOBHM heap. The last time I caught them, at St. Vitus on a skull-crushingly great bill with Goatwhore, Revocation and Ramming Speed, they were easily the most traditionally metal band on the bill, but played just as brutally as their peers. I'm guessing more than a few death metalers got into Iron Maiden through 3IOB, and they probably got some old school metalheads into Behemoth as well.



"Deadly Sinners", from 2004's Advance and Vanquish, comes close to packing everything that's great about extreme metal into four and a half minutes. The lyrics are Manowar-worthy, and the vocals are clearly indebted to King Diamond, but no one I can think of had ever put it all together so smoothly until 3 Inches of Blood. This was a rare modern band that exhibited the fun of metal music without pretending there was anything shameful about being in a metal band, getting headbangers on their feet and putting a scene full of Sunn O)))s to shame. Thanks for the music, gentlemen. Best of luck with that final show, and please keep us posted on your new projects.