Ice Nine Kills @ The Garage, Glasgow (23rd September 2019)

with: Values

Hosted by: Triple G Music

WORDS: Ross Donald

On this Monday night, Glasgow’s creatures of the night descended upon The Garage for a night seemingly designed to celebrate the macabre of pop culture. Ice Nine Kills had arrived to support their latest album The Silver Scream, which was released earlier late last year. Was this a horror night to remember? Let’s take a look.

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Photos: Ross Donald

The night started off with the Leeds metalcore group, Values. And... they weren’t so great, I’m sad to say. I hate saying that about an up-and-coming band I wish nothing but the best for, but there wasn’t really anything new brought to the table. 

This was every metalcore performance you’ve ever heard and seen before with a few quieter, more melodic moments to break up the monotony. Although I do feel like they should have kept things heavy to get the crowd more into it. There were a couple of times during the set that they called for a pit to open up, and when it did, there was literally no one in it for about 30 seconds. It was so awkward to see this empty space on the floor and I genuinely felt bad for the band. Why they would call on a pit a second time only for the same thing to happen, I have no idea. 

Not a terrible opening band for me but an forgettable and awkward one, for sure.

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At this point I was expecting to see Cvlt ov the Svn play next as they appeared on the UK tour poster for this show. I guess they had to pull out or something because we went straight onto Ice Nine Kills next. Strange.

INK wasted no time in starting off their set with their latest album's opener 'The American Nightmare' (based on Nightmare on Elm Street) and they never looked back the whole night. Lead vocalist Spencer Charnas spent the night changing outfits to suit the topic of song, which was a nice touch. With this starting song, he appeared in full Freddy Krueger gear complete with a claw hand. Other band members were dressed up the whole night as well with the likes of The Crow and Georgie from Stephen King’s IT getting some nice representation. As I said earlier, the crowd were definitely a bit subdued during the opening band. INK didn’t need to worry though, as it felt like the room came completely unglued as soon as the opening track started. Of course, it helps that 'American Nightmare' is one is their main hit singles just now and it was a fun singalong track to start us off. 

Up next was 'Merry Axe-Mas' (based on Silent Night, Deadly Night). While it might seem a bit weird to have a Christmas related song in September, the breakdown to the tune of 'Jingle Bells' totally made it worth it. And they were only getting started. Next track 'Savages' (based on Texas Chainsaw Massacre) is where I really started getting into it, as I’m pretty much obsessed with this song just now. It’s so damn catchy and it’s impossible not to have it stuck in your head after a listen. Great choice to keep the flow going. 

Following this was 'The Jig is Up' (based on Saw) which isn’t my favourite track by the band but it worked well as circle pit fodder with bodies flying all over the place. One of my favourite tracks by the band is 'Thank God It’s Friday' (based on Friday the 13th) and the band really went all out on this one. Starting off with a voice clip from the movie was genius as it meant that the crowd could prepare for a massive wall of death before the first big riff hit. Not only that, but they had a woman on stage dressed up as Jason’s mother to really add to the effect. One of the night’s highlights for sure.

By playing quite a lot of songs from the latest album, the only other album with a spotlight in the set was 2015’s Every Trick in the Book. Most songs here added to the metalcore and horror atmosphere, such as 'Me, Myself & Hyde' and 'Communion of the Cursed' bringing the big singalong choruses. We even got a nice, softer track in 'Tess-Timony' to bring out the lighters in the air. Another highlight of the night. Another big track was 'Rocking the Boat' (based on Jaws) complete with an inflatable shark onstage and a breakdown using the famous John William’s score in a real surreal moment. It doesn’t get much better than this. 

The big show closer was 'IT is the End'. This was a song I was very much looking forward to given my current obsession with Stephen King’s IT and what a performance it was with the band in almost full clown gear for frightening effect and Mickey Mouse running around with a red balloon. Because why not. Anyway, this was just an explosive track and I found myself singing along to every word and nearly ripping my vocal chords out in the process. A terrific end to the show.

My only real complaint of the set is that the band only played for about an hour and I expected at least another 20 minutes, so it just left me wanting more than the 14 songs they played. Still, I had an absolute blast and was not disappointed. The band sounded great, as the clean and vicious vocals were both on point and the production was just wonderful. Just like a fun low budget horror movie. I’d recommend checking the band out if you get a chance especially if you have a love of all things horror. Alongside the metalcore style, this is a match made in heaven. Even if you aren’t into the horror elements, the band are still great to experience as they have big catchy choruses galore and massive breakdowns for all the circle pit junkies. 

Just don’t be afraid to check for any monsters under your bed after doing so…..

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Thanks to Ross for this review of the Ice Nine Kills review, and thanks to you for reading! Feel free to leave a comment below, give RWEI some support by giving us a like/follow on the socials or get in touch for any contributions/submissions. 

Cheers!