REVIEWS
Ice Nine Kills have released their latest record, titled “The Silver Scream.”
I became a fan of this band awhile after their 2015 release, “Every Trick In The Book.” There was something about that album in particular that stood out to me and made me get into this band. Needless to say, I was very excited to hear more music from the band after being so impressed with their previous record, and I’m happy to say that I feel the same way this time around.
The album starts off strong with lead single “The American Nightmare.” The song has some fantastic dynamics, with one example being the transition of a softer and more melodic verse to a much more energetic and aggressive one, with furious instrumentals and harsh vocals. The chorus on here is great as well and is one of the most memorable ones on this record. Second is another single, “Thank God It’s Friday,” which brings some darker instrumentation and extremely harsh vocals, as well as great melodies that show off vocalist Spencer Charnas’ singing skills, especially in the chorus, which is arguably one of the most interesting choruses that this band has written to date. It’s very dramatic and shows the theatrical side of the band’s sound, and the following track “Stabbing In The Dark,” does the same thing. I love the emotion in the clean vocals on this track, especially when the song starts to build up a bit, leading up to the more aggressive sections with some insanely fast guitars. “SAVAGES” is a track that I feel is one of the biggest standouts on this album in regards to sound. It leans more towards metal and radio rock rather than complete metalcore, and the hook and chorus on here are very memorable as well. Next up is “The Jig Is Up,” which is another track that I feel shows the theatrical elements of the band’s sound, especially with the intro. After that is “A Grave Mistake,” one of my favorite tracks on this entire record. It’s much more melodic and a bit softer at first, driven by piano and acoustic guitar in the verses. The chorus on here is hard hitting, anthemic, and brings an incredible vocal performance with great melodies. “Rocking The Boat” is another one that’s a bit more melodic (and honestly pretty catchy), though there’s definitely some screaming added in, and there’s a good mixture of that and the cleaner vocals on this track. Something about it that really stood out was the huge breakdown and the tempo change there, which caught me by surprise at first. “Enjoy Your Slay” is next and, as it was released last year, it was the first song fans heard from this new album, and for good reason. It shows the band’s evolution, while still incorporating the darker and more aggressive moments that are a staple of the band’s sound. “Freak Flag” is another more melodic track with a catchy chorus that didn’t stand out to me at first, but quickly grew on me. “The World In My Hands” is another more melodic one that really shows a lot of emotion in the vocals and lyrics, and the chorus on here is another memorable one as well. “Merry Axe-Mas” is probably one of the heaviest songs on this entire record. The instrumentation is very impressive, especially the drums and the guitars (the guitar solo on here is one of the best on the record) and the chorus has a great vocal performenace with some more very interesting melodies. “Love Bites” is a piano led ballad that’s honestly a bit happy sounding. It features Chelsea Talmadge as a guest vocalist, and I think her voice goes well with Spencer’s and that her feature adds more to the song. The album closes out with “IT Is The End,” which starts off in a similar way to the album’s opener - transitioning from a dark, yet still melodic, track to one of the most aggressive ones the album has to offer, with insanely fast instrumentation and brutal vocals. Speaking of the vocals - there’s so much passion and charisma in the clean vocal performance towards the bridge, and I loved the raw vocals delivered by featured vocalists JR Wasilewski, Buddy Schaub (Less Than Jake) and Will Salazar (Fenix TX). It’s another track that truly shows the dramatic and theatrical elements of the band’s music and it makes the perfect closer for the record. Overall, I really enjoyed this album. This band has stood out to me in the metalcore genre, and this album is more proof of why. Their creativity and charisma shows on every one of these tracks, and while some stand out a bit more than others, the album as a whole is still another solid release from this band. LISTEN TO THE ALBUM HERE:
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