Ice Nine Kills return to London for their first headline show in nearly 4 years. Albeit in much larger venues than before. The way INK have exploded in the last few years has been something to behold. Since the release of 2018’s The Silver Scream & Its sequel album 2021’s Welcome to Horrorwood, the band has seemingly gone from strength to strength.
There is a thick air of anticipation in the air tonight along with more INK merch on display then a well stocked Hot Topic, you just get that feeling you are about to watch a band go to the next level.
As the lights dim and screams pierce eardrums around the venue, we are greeted with a familiar voice as The Cryptkeeper from Tales from the Crypt (as voiced by the legendary John Kassir) welcomes us to tonight’s show. Opening with a bone-rattlingly heavy Funeral Derangements, INK come out swinging and never let up.
For the next hour and a bit we are treated to a blood soaked heavy metal theatre show. Taking cues from legends like Alice Cooper & Rob Zombie, Ice Nine Kills have cultivated a show that is part gig, part musical theater. With the set mostly comprised of songs from The Silver Scream Duology, they take every opportunity to bring the film associated with each song to life.Whether that means dancers dressed as Elite Hunters from Hostel for Wurst Vacation, killing Marion Crane in a shower during The Shower Scene or performing an onstage exorcism during Communion of the Cursed, each song has its own unique moment to shine.
It has to be said that all the props and onstage hoopla aside, if you strip all of that away, Ice Nine Kills are still a ferociously heavy live band. Assault & Batteries, The American Nightmare and Stabbing in the Dark all sound so violent and heavy that they feel like they could level buildings.
Tonights crowd is varied and diverse, but every single person is united in their love of INK. This is one of the loudest and most energetic crowds I have been a part of for a very long time. Every word is screamed back at the band with such ferocity they drown the band out at multiple times. There is clearly a deep love here for Ice Nine Kills and the anticipation for these shows on these rescheduled dates is extremely obvious.
On this current form and during this era Ice Nine Kills have evolved into a formidable live presence that are seemingly unstoppable. It is not hard to envision them in larger venues, possibly arenas on their next visit to this side of the pond. If they continue with this momentum and at this pace then there really is no ceiling for where they can take this. 9/10
