Ben Massey | 22/06/23
Ice Nine Kills showed me what it means to bring a story to life through music. This gig easily had the most extravagant set design I had ever seen. Imagine Creeper-core but hyper-americanised with chainsaws, axes, and blood everywhere. Whilst I write this, I’m realising just how farfetched this sounds as a realised event, but really… this is what Ice Nine Kills are about. This live music experience is the certainly perfect night out for any horror lover.
Despite waking up at 5:30 am and working a ten-hour shift before this gig, I was really pumped to catch all the bands on this line-up! When walking into the venue I was blessed to hear a song I’d heard before but couldn’t quite place. I quickly ran into the pit to take the few photos I could before having to leave. When leaving I realised that the song I was listening to was The Law 112: Secrecy and Renegades by Thai-based alt-metal outfit Defying Decay, a band I somehow stumbled across one night when trying to find some new music. Who would’ve thought?
Next on was SKYND, an artist I had never heard of before, but my god did they put on a performance. I would describe SKYND as a hyper-pop-meets-rock mash of genres. SKYND commanded the eyes of every single person’s eye in the room with their ornate outfits and robotic-like movements. It was a performance that ended with a well-deserved ovation from the crowd.
Finally, the main event was on. Spencer Charnas, lead singer of Ice Nine Kills, ran onto the stage with piercing eyes and a full suit – ready to engage the crowd into a night of horror, mayhem, and madness. Within the three songs I got in the photo-pit, I saw two men get “killed”, one person wielding a chainsaw, and then Spencer exercising his own weapons of violence. As a photographer, it was the perfect show to take photos at. There was never a time of attention deficit.
Ice Nine Kills have most recently brought out a double LP of their two most recent albums unified together that being, The Silver Scream Collection. These two albums bring horror to life and even come with accompanying movies. Diversity of art is so important in the music industry because it inspires and challenges others to enter that realm.
Please check out all the artists mentioned here, they all deserve your support and attention!
Edited by: Roxann Yus
Photography by: Ben Massey
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