3 Inches of Blood was formed in 2000 in Vancouver, Canada. Initially playing straight heavy metal in the vein of bands such as Running Wild and Judas Priest, before the addition of heavy vocalist Cam Pipes and the recording of their debut album Battlecry Under a Winter Sun in 2002 on the Teenage Rampage label. This release went by almost unnoticed until the band's UK distribution label decided to put them on as a support slot for a tour with platinum rock band The Darkness. This exposure gained them much critical attention and acclaim in the world of underground metal, and they were signed up by big-label subsidiary Roadrunner Records in 2004.