Ice Nine Kills
Ice Nine Kills (sometimes stylized in all capital letters or abbreviated to INK, and formerly known as Ice Nine) is an American heavy metal band from Boston, Massachusetts, who are signed to Fearless Records. Best known for its horror-inspired lyrics, Ice Nine Kills formed in its earliest incarnation in 2000 by high school friends Spencer Charnas and Jeremy Schwartz. Charnas is currently the only remaining founding member.
For other uses of "Ice-nine", see Ice-nine (disambiguation).
Ice Nine Kills
Ice Nine (2000–2006)[1]
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
2000–present
- Spencer Charnas
- Ricky Armellino
- Patrick Galante
- Joe Occhiuti
- Dan Sugarman
- Jeremy Schwartz
- Andrew Justin Smith
- Hobie Boeschenstein
- Dave Marvuglio
- Dave Sieling
- Shane Bisnett
- Steve Koch
- Grant Newsted
- Joseph Merturi
- Conor Sullivan
- Justin Morrow
- Justin DeBlieck
Ice Nine Kills has released three EPs along with six full-length studio albums: Last Chance to Make Amends, Safe Is Just a Shadow, The Predator Becomes the Prey, Every Trick in the Book, which peaked at number 122 on the US Billboard 200; The Silver Scream, which peaked at number 29;[2] and their latest, The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood which peaked at number 18. Their band name is derived from the fictional substance ice-nine from the 1963 novel Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.[3]
History[edit]
2000–2009: Formation and Last Chance to Make Amends[edit]
Ice Nine Kills was founded in 2000 under the name Ice Nine by high school friends Spencer Charnas and Jeremy Schwartz. They later recruited drummer Grant Newsted in 2003 and swapped out then-bassist Patrick Morse for Hobie Boeschenstein in 2004.[4] In 2002, they recorded a demo, which would eventually be released in 2009 entitled The Pop-Punk-Ska Years.[3] They changed name to Ice Nine Kills just before releasing their debut independent album Last Chance to Make Amends on April 20, 2006.[5]
The following year on November 20, 2007, Ice Nine Kills released their EP The Burning through Red Blue Records.[6] The band then set out on several national tours in support of the EP, including opening slots on tours with I See Stars and Eyes Set to Kill among others.[7] By 2008, the group had been invited to open for well-known acts such as As I Lay Dying, A Day to Remember, Thursday, Paramore and a one-off performance on the Taste of Chaos 2009 tour.[8] That same year, Ice Nine Kills released 2 acoustic tracks ("The Simple Act of Giving Up" and "Lifetime in a Week") on an EP titled 2 Song Acoustic.[9]
In mid-2009, Schwartz decided to leave the band after struggling with life on the road, leaving Charnas as the only original member.[10] Charnas then recruited former members of the Rochester NY based post-hardcore band Remember Tomorrow which had recently disbanded[11] and stopped playing rhythm guitar. This shifted Ice Nine Kills' sound into more of an experimental metalcore sound to which Ferret Music took notice and signed the band in the spring of 2009 and after their appearance on Warped Tour 2009 the band began writing and recording their next record.[8]
Musical style[edit]
The group originally pursued a style of ska-punk[3] influenced by alternative rock, ska, and pop punk,[78] but they have since shifted into a style which has been described as metalcore,[79][80][81] melodic metalcore,[82][83][84] post-hardcore,[85][86] heavy metal,[87][88] symphonic metal,[89][90] melodic hardcore,[3] and horror punk.[88] Ice Nine Kills has described itself as "theatricore".[91]
Ice Nine Kills' songs have also been categorized under a variety of genres outside their primary sound, including hard rock,[92] post-metalcore,[93] emo pop,[94] deathcore,[94] technical death metal,[95] psychobilly,[95] pop punk,[96] hardcore punk,[96] death metal,[97][98] symphonic death metal,[96] industrial metal,[97] and Neue Deutsche Härte.[97]