Less than a month away from Halloween, Ice Nine Kills have released their latest album, The Silver Scream, a carefully crafted concept album that takes listeners through a 13- track whirlwind full of classic horror icons such as Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kreuger, and more. The Boston based group are no strangers to this type of creativity as their previous release, Every Trick in the Book, was packed with songs inspired by classic literature, specifically the horror genre. With such a tough act to follow, this band came out swinging and hit the sweet spot.
The album starts off with “The American Nightmare”, a Freddy Kreuger inspired song with some deliciously sweet riffs and a chorus catchy enough that it is sure to show up in your dreams. Next, we are transported to Camp Crystal Lake with “Thank God it’s Friday”. Here is where the album begins to really bring you into each film it draws from as the group vocals on the chorus over a strummed guitar and crackling fire fully immerse you in that summer camp nostalgia only to drown you in terror with the brutal guitars mixed with the heavy synthesizers. With chants of “Ki Ki Ki, Ah Ah Ah”, your heart will start racing as if Jason Voorhies himself is after you. But, it doesn’t slow here as we jump over to Haddonfield with “Stabbing in the Dark”-a song that sounds like if John Carpenter went into the studio with the band himself. This track serves as a highlight of just how good of a vocalist Spencer Charnas has become at making choruses resonate. This song eerily uses the guitar work to create a modern take on Carpenter’s iconic synth soundtrack from 1978 that will have you peering behind you to make sure the Shape isn’t lurking in the shadows. “Savages” is a change in gears with a more anthemic rock sound inspired by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but it is no slacker by any means as it serves up the best chorus on the entire album with a fun mini guitar solo at the end. Another great component of this album is that it has quite a few guest appearances that create such a melting pot of sounds starting with “The Jig Is Up” which features Randy Strohmeyer of Finch on guitar with a song that sounds like it came right out of one of the Saw Movies. The song is a fun race to the end where a Jigsaw soundbite is completed with a bone-crushing breakdown. Ice Nine Kills is not only great at the heavy sound, but they also craft some great ballad-esque tracks such as “Grave Mistake” and “Love Bites” inspired by The Crow and American Werewolf in London respectively. “Rocking the Boat” is such a fun song about Jaws using panicked dialogue to drive home the intensity of the track accompanied by a couple fishy puns sure to make you laugh. “Enjoy Your Slay” will appeal to fans of The Shining as Charnas sings the tale of The Overlook Hotel that features Stanley Kubrick’s grandson providing some extra heavy screams towards the end. “Freak Flag” is another track that veers in the direction of anthemic rock as it borrows from The Devil’s Rejects with an electronic sound mixed in to give you a bounce type feel. “The World in My Hands” is the tragic tale of Edward Scissorhands assisted by Tony Lovato of Mest on backup vocals. Although a sad tale, this song features a killer guitar solo that will leave you screaming. “Merry Axe-Mas” provides a truly creepy song as the band take us to Christmas-time with haunting bells lacing the blasting guitars and choral-type vocals that sound like a haunted Christmas carol. The death-core scream at the end is truly something nightmares are made out of. “It Is the End” brings the listeners to a carnival of blood as Charnas does a near perfect impression of Pennywise enticing poor Georgie. And if you didn’t think that this track could get any creepier, JR Wasilewski and Buddy Schaub of Less Than Jake jump in and bring their clown horns with them to add some terrifying punctuation to the verses.
The success of The Silver Scream is not just pure luck, but a product of a myriad of different influences that manifest themselves in a truly cinematic way. The instrumental aspects of the tracks are so manic and frenzied that it creates this nostalgic atmosphere that will immediately transport you to when you first saw these films. And although this album has heavy reliance on a specific genre, it will not leave those who are not fans of horror feeling disappointed. The vocal work is phenomenal with some of the catchiest choruses of the year. Spencer Charnas’ vocals are reminiscent of Chris Motionless and Matt Heafy in that they can go from sinister to soaring in a flash. He is one of the best voices in metalcore currently and he is only made that much better by the band he is with. Guitarist JD DeBlieck still has some of my favorite high screams that he somehow manages to put on full blast while laying down intricate riffs to race along with Morrow’s pounding bass lines. Overall, this album is a wonderful progression of these talented individuals and it will provide a beautiful, wild ride full of all the moments that scared you as a kid. Do yourself a huge favor and grab this album. You will not regret it.
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