Review Summary: A celebration of passion and history.
Ice Nine Kills has always been one of my favorite metalcore bands of all time and they have never failed to impress, especially with this new release - which I honestly think is perfect. With The Silver Scream, the band decided to embrace what they loved the most and get to writing, which would be horror films instead of classic literature this time around. They focused on the most memorable of films, some of which have kick-started entire film franchises while others were a bit unexpected, such as the song "Love Bites" which is based on An American Werewolf in London.
We were introduced to this album through several story-based music videos, which really just shows the kind of passion this band has for their music. And though they don't take it too seriously, it can be easily seen as more of a passion project with some puns thrown in here and there, not only with the song titles (The Jig Is Up being based on Saw, Thank God It's Friday being Friday the 13th) but with the lyricism as well, with some of it coming off as silly and other times it can be a little clever. They even act out some scenes from the movies very briefly in the Jaws inspired song, "Rocking the Boat", or what could possibly be samples from Halloween in "Stabbing In The Dark".
Spencer's clean vocals have shown growth as well, they have grown harsher and more potent in songs such as "Stabbing In The Dark", "SAVAGES" and "The World In My Hands". They mesh quite well with Justin DeBlieck's (co-vocalist and lead guitarist) vocals this time around, instead of being jarring like they felt in their previous release at times.
As dark and as fun as The Silver Scream can be, it doesn't cease to make you smile and want to jump up from your seat. Especially since they have their former vocalist, Jeremy Schwartz, featured in the record where they namedrop several of their past endeavors which makes you think of just how far this band has come. It's a celebration of what they love the most but it's also showing that it's a celebration of their history.
This record is no stranger to featuring other artists either, as Sam Kubrick (Stanley Kubrick's grandson) of SHIELDS is featured in "Enjoy Your Slay", a song inspired by The Shining. The final track, "IT Is The End" shows off a playful, circus-y vibe from Pennywise's point of view, with a song full of puns and tongue in cheek lyrics before crawling to a slow end.
Despite this record faltering ever so slightly here and there with uninspired lyricism (specifically in SAVAGES), this band shows they can continue to pump out a not-so-serious but a still bone chilling release which leaves me wondering just how they can top this; only time will tell.
Favorite tracks:
The American Nightmare
Thank God It's Friday
Stabbing In The Dark
Rocking The Boat
The World In My Hands
Merry Axe-Mas
It Is The End
