Worcester Telegram

Ice Nine Kills came onto the alternative scene in 2006 with their debut album, “Last Chance to Make Amends”. Since then they have only skyrocketed in popularity, almost all of their songs are influenced by a different horror movie. Which is an extremely interesting take in music and not something a lot of people would think to do. They’re my personal favorite metal band of all time, and this is a review on their most recent album, “The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood”

The first track on the album is “Welcome to Horrorwood”. The album is already off to an amazing, fast paced and heavy beginning. With memorable and unique to their sound guitar riffs, and a mix of smooth and whiny classic emo and trademark metal fry screaming, this is without a doubt an energetic opener. “Sit back for the sequel of your dreams, all psychos crave more shocking scenes.”

The second track, “A Rash Decision” is based on the 2002 film “Cabin Fever” and is one of the heaviest songs in the album. With Charnas’ signature combination of emo belting and metal screams once again, this is one of the strongest tracks on the album. “A fever’s in the air, who will be spared?”

The third track is “Assault and Batteries” and if you couldn’t tell from the play on the word Batteries, this is a song about the cult classic slasher, “Child’s Play.” This song isn’t as hidden in its cinematic inspiration as other songs, outright naming characters from the film like Andy, the main boy in the first Child’s Play. “Cause’ the carnage continues at a store near you!”

The fourth track is the namesake of this article, “The Shower Scene”. Another one of the obvious cinematic inspirations. Pulling its name and lyrics from one of the original pioneers of the slasher genre, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”. One of the original singles released before the band’s full release of the album, and definitely one of the most highly praised songs on their album and in their discography in general. “I hope saying goodnight doesn’t mean saying goodbye. Now under the pressure we’re drowning together, going down the drain tonight.” In the breakdown it also includes the memorable Psycho theme song.

The fifth track is a personal favorite of mine, “Funeral Derangements”, it is themed around the Stephen King book and movie, “Pet Sematary”. It’s one of the hardest tracks on the album and has one of the greatest breakdowns out of any of their songs. “I’ll dig through sorrow and disgust, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Don’t give up, don’t let go. I’ll make this right.” the chorus heart wrenchingly belts. 

The sixth track is the “Resident Evil” inspired “Rainy Day”. It has some technical/synth-ish elements to it which is really cool. It takes the technical and sci-fi aspects of Resident Evil and combines it with the technical aspects of metal to make a song that is an incredible tribute to the movie. Shifting sounds depending on the movie that they are dedicating the song to. “Are you listening? To the whispering? Is it sinking in, cause it’s sickening?” 

The seventh track, “Hip to be Scared”, both a homage to the hit 2000 film “American Psycho”, and the Huey Lewis and the News song, “Hip to be Square”, as the song is heavily featured in the movie and often associated with the main character, Patrick Bateman. It also featured Jacoby Shaddix from the alt/metal band, Papa Roach on the track.  “Hip to be Scared” was one of the singles released as well. And alongside The Shower Scene and Funeral Derangements, one of the best tracks the album has to offer. “In the wealthiest sections, a killer complexion is often a great alibi.”

The eighth track is “Take Your Pick”, based on the slasher film “My Bloody Valentine. This track has George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, the lead singer of fellow metal heavyweight “Cannibal Corpse”. This is an extremely fast paced song, and Charnas and Fisher’s vocals compliment each other perfectly. Charnas’ metalcore vocals combined with Fisher’s Death metal vocals go together better than you could ever imagine. “Love hurts, in my mine.”

The ninth track on the album is “The Box”, featuring Brandon Saller from “Atreyu” and based on the beloved classic, “Hellraiser”. All of Ice Nine Kills’ songs have a special element to allude to their movies, and this is no exception. With a chilling opening instrumental and some of the best lyricism in the entire album, “But doubt weighs heavy, it’s a paradox, think outside the box.”

The Tenth track is “F.L.Y.” featuring Buddy Nielsen from “Senses Fail”, inspired by the Jeff Goldblum starring sci-fi horror movie, “The Fly”. It’s definitely more pop-punk centric than metal, as opposed to the rest of the album. But the intro is pretty hard. “They say moral mistakes might mutate despite these gifted hands.”

The eleventh track is “Wurst Vacation”, inspired by extreme torture horror film series, “Hostel”. Regarded as one of the most terrifying and brutal film series in existence. Wurst being a play on the fact that it takes place in Amsterdam. Another favorite of mine off of this album, it does a fantastic job of theming to the movies. “Say goodbye, now you die, you’re not going home. (all aboard, all aboard), for your wurst vacation.”

The twelfth track on the album is “Ex-Mortis”, based on the amazing “Evil Dead” series. A classic in the horror genre, as it gains more sequels and somehow never gets old. The song closes with a sound effect of a cellar door closing, to add to the vibe of the movie. “A cold wind blows as the angels cry, the living will descend as the dead will rise.”

And the thirteenth and final track on the album is “Farewell II Flesh”, a song about the movie “The Candyman”, and an un-Ice Nine Kills-like slow intro. That descends into something heavier later on. “Left to die under the sun, the hive never spared anyone. How ‘bout a hand for the honeybees? Hooked on the creed of their colony.”

Ice Nine Kills is one of the freshest and most unique metal bands of our century. They take timeless horror movies and turn them into equally timeless songs. “Welcome to Horrorwood” was the perfect followup to “The Silver Scream”. It packed such a punch with its lyricism and instrumentals. And every track has so much to offer. Metalheads and Emos alike can rejoice in this show-stopping combo of the genres.