Russell HughesIce Nine Kills – The Silver Scream (Fearless Records)
Genre: Post-Hardcore
If Ice Nine Kills aren’t the best post-hardcore, theatrical, artistic storytellers on the planet right now I don’t even want to know who is because I won’t be able to deal.
While their 2015 album Every Trick In The Book was a collection of songs that based their reality on novels, The Silver Scream takes its inspiration from 13 classic horror films.
Massive melody, enchanting orchestral work, engaging mini-interludes and varied vocal delivery makes their fifth album endlessly listenable. If it was a tape you’d burn it out in about a week through endless rewinding.
For a band who were named after Kurt Vonnegut’s cult classic The Cat’s Cradle, you’d expect nothing less. Their sound is just as destructive as the horror that’s let lose within the novel, but rather than making you wait for it The Silver Scream jumps straight into the hardcore noise barrage with The American Nightmare.
With a varied support cast that includes Mest singe Tony Lavato, each tune morphs slightly around the character of the guest vocalist. The World In My Hands features a more pop-punk chorus line, which is instantly thrown aside for the brilliant Merry Axe-Mas – a thunderbastard of a tune that features expertly timed orchestral vocals, dirty dirty vocals, a snippet of Christmas song and a warping on the traditional messages of the holiday.
Ondt Blod open up about their politics, their homeland and hardcore tunes
Rocking The Boat is another instant classic with a mid-song vocal interlude that features frontman Spencer Charnas’s childhood friend Jeremy Schwartz and a Jaws inspired musical score in the background.
There is definitely more to Ice Nine Kills than first meets the eye. The Boston three-piece are one of the most innovative rock bands out there. Their range of sound is impeccable, their creative process unique and the end result is electric.
RUSHONROCK RATED: 10/10 Slayed.