Ice Nine Kills - 'The Silver Scream' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. The American Nightmare (A Nightmare On Elm Street)

2. Thank God It’s Friday (Friday The 13th)

3. Stabbing In The Dark (Halloween)

4. SAVAGES (Texas Chain Saw Massacare)

5. The Jig Is Up (ft. Randy Strohmeyer) (Saw)

6. A Grave Mistake (Possibly The Crow, Pet Sematary or The Evil Dead)

7. Rocking The Boat (ft. Jeremy Schwartz) (Jaws)

8. Enjoy Your Slay (ft. Sam Kubrick) (The Shining)

9. Freak Flag (Possibly The Purge)

10. The World In My Hands (ft. Tony Lovato) (Hellraiser)

11. Merry Axe-Mas (Silent Night, Deadly Night)

12. Love Bites (ft. Chelsea Talmadge) (Possibly The Crow or An American Werewolf In London)

13. IT Is The End (ft. Less Than Jake and Fenix_TX) (IT)

Ice Nine Kills are a bad ass Metal Core band from Boston, Massachusetts. They are about to unleash their fifth studio album onto the world. Their first for nearly three years. It is called ‘The Silver Scream’, but that sounds like a pun on the old school romantic description of movies being on the silver screen I hear you ask. Well that is true because every one of the thirteen tracks in this collection is about a different horror story. Ranging from ‘IT’ to ‘Jaws’ and stopping at ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’, ‘Halloween’ and ‘Friday The 13th’ to name just a few. It is issued by Fearless Records and was produced by Drew Fulk. The band formed in college as Ice Nine in 2002 and added Kills at the end of the name just before they released their first album ‘Last Chance To Make Amends’ in 2006. For me ‘The Silver Scream’ is in effect a concept album given the horror themes.

After a slightly innocently sinister spoken word introduction “The American Nightmare” which you might have guessed is about that Freddy Krueger bloke. Lyrically it sets out its stall for the whole album with the following; “Rest your head, here's a lullaby, a melody for heavy eyes. Early to bed, early to die. Welcome to your worst nightmare”. It even features what sounds like a children’s choir for extra added eeriness. The riffs on display here might well have risen from the depths of hell to the earth’s surface via a volcanic geyser spewing out Satan’s spittle. “Thank God It’s Friday” is a hard hitting choral-like ode to Jason Voorhees and Crystal Lake which at times sounds like it has adopted some key note features from the likes of Fall Out Boy, only a damned sight heavier.

Was ‘Jaws’ a horror film? I suppose that is the best genre to categorise it into which means it is a great fit for this record. The song is “Rocking The Boat” and as well as getting in a shout about needing a bigger boat it manages to include a warped Metal take on the classic Lalo Schifrin theme from Jaws. The song also features a guest appearance from former Ice Nine Kills member Jeremy Schwartz. One of the many highlights on this record is the way that the counterpoint, roaring Metal harmonies and throat ripping screams of Justin DeBlieck and Spencer Charnas hit the spot so perfectly. Added to that is the faultless musicianship on display in every tune. Right now my favourite track is “The Jig Is Up” which is about ‘Saw’. The sonic harmonies and melodies in this number add to the ever building noise fest which sounds like it was produced by an even more insane Phil Spector in a parallel universe. Stephen King’s ‘IT’ is the subject of the albums final song “IT Is The End” and features guest appearances by members of Fenix TX and Less Than Jake. The character of Pennywise is prominent in the delivery and if you are of a nervous disposition might scare the shit out of you.

If you like horror and great music, then you would appear in gullible teenager’s dreams to get your hands on this excellent album. Play it loud, listen closely to it but do not listen to it on your own in the dark! But do play it when the neighbour’s darling children come trick or treating next month, they will probably never come back to your house again!