Ice Nine Kills – The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood
Release Date: 15th October 2021
Label: Fearless Records
Pre-Order
Genre: Metalcore, Hard Rock, Post-Hardcore, Horrorcore.
FFO: Of Mice & Men, blessthefall, Bad Omens, The Word Alive, Motionless In White.
Review By: Tyler Sharkey
If you’re familiar with metalcore music, you’ve no doubt heard your fair share of horror-themed tracks. The genre is crawling with songs about anything from serial killers like in Hey There, Mr. Brooks by Asking Alexandria to the Salem Witch Trials in Motionless In White’s hit, Abigail. However, no band has honed in and capitalized on this trend quite like Massachusetts very own, Ice Nine Kills. Blending crushing brutality, angelic melody and the theatrics of groups ranging from Alice Cooper to Panic! At The Disco, the terrifically terrifying metalcore act have spent the last 20 years evolving from high school garage band to major label success; even hitting No.1 on the Billboard Hard Rock charts in 2018 with their album, The Silver Scream. Now, just in time for Halloween 2021, Ice Nine are ready to present the highly anticipated sequel to the chart-topping record with their newest LP, appropriately dubbed, The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood.
Welcome To Horrorwood, sixth full length album from Boston-based quintet, Ice Nine Kills gives us 14 blood spattered tracks of that theatrical terror the fans have come to know and love. As the curtains open, you can feel something creepy in the air as the listener is immediately thrown into the middle of a murder investigation, Cold Case Files style, with vocalist, Spencer Charnas as the main suspect. From there we’re taken on a twisted joyride through hell full of raging screams, soaring cleans, shredding leads and brutal breakdowns. Singles Hip to be Scared (ft. Jacoby Shaddix) and Rainy Day, showcase the bands impeccable ability to write extremely catchy hooks and choruses while tracks like, Funeral Derangement and Take Your Pick (ft. Corpsegrinder) display the groups untamed ferocity with neck-breaking chugs and deathcore gutturals. Oh, and you can’t ignore the vivid imagery each song produces either. Lyrics with razor sharp wit mixed with quotes from films like, American Psycho and other theatrical elements throughout really bring the album to life, fully immersing the audience in a fun yet spine-chilling experience. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the bands next goal is to write a musical and perform it on Broadway at this point.
With all of that said, and as perfect of a monster themed album as Welcome To Horrorwood is, if you’re not already a fan of Ice Nine Kills or songs about scary movies I could see this record being hard to get into. Don’t get me wrong, everything is very well written and there’s certainly no lack of musical talent here, but if you ask me, personally, the whole “horrorcore” thing is a little on the gimmicky side and I really couldn’t see myself listening to it outside of the “spooky” season. Although, it would be a great record to mix into the playlist at any Halloween costume party.
At the end of the day, if you’re a fan of Ice Nine Kills and the path of blood and monsters they’ve gone down you are going to absolutely love this album. It’s creative, hard hitting, insanely catchy and devilishly fun. There is a finely crafted formula at work here and the results speak for themselves. The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood is sure to be a bloody good time for any horror fan.
(4 / 5)
