Ice Nine Kills - The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood (2021)^{Release ID: 31743}

I wish that there was more to say about this Ice Nine Kills album, a follow up to the bands 2018 The Silver Scream. But in all honesty, I found myself counting the ways in which Ice Nine Kills were ripping off of other metalcore bands. Now most of this work is done by the synth selection, which makes appearances during the heavy breakdowns that are not too dissimilar from Rings of Saturn, as well as the guitar work during “A Rash Decision”. There were also more than enough attempts to seem progressive with some Protest the Hero callbacks on tracks such as “Assault & Batteries”. Some good callbacks don’t get me wrong, it just so happens that these were not subtle inspirations and can make for a less than fulfilling experience, for whatever that is worth in Metalcore these days.

And beyond that, the production is a little bit weak; trigger bass pedals still don’t hide the fact that the low end feels quite weak. As for the sound, for an album that is trying to conceptualize Hollywood slasher movies, with the exception of a few Rings of Saturn-esque breakdowns, these songs feel very safe. Didn’t Dorian Electra manage to be disturbing far more effectively with My Agenda just last year? It is a fine enough album, just nothing special.

I'm glad I got this album the other day, not just because of scarily awesome this is, but also because I can do this review of its most appropriate day... HALLOWEEN. So get ready for lots of tricks to go with this treat!

Sequels, whether to albums or films, are something to love or hate. As the tagline from Scream 2 would say about some of them, "Sequels suck." However, this one doesn't! The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood is the sequel to the band's most successful album, in response to fans' demands for more. I personally think they should've tackled a different horror topic like TV shows or video games, but it's still a superb sequel. So let me show you the ways through this horror-metalcore journey...

"Opening Night" is an introductory disclaimer by famous horror film actor Bill Moseley, explaining that the 13 tracks were what remains of what seems to be a more horrifying concept album from long ago that would've been about brutal killings, similar to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The title track, "Welcome to Horrorwood" begins similarly to Every Trick in the Book, with Spencer Charnas' vocals, piano, and strings (“ink fills the page, a classic killer completes the cast”). Then the quietness is broken by a guttural scream and furious drum pounding. The song isn't based on any horror films, but establishes what to expect in the album; film violence that sometimes bleeds into reality, all part of the album's main concept. So continuing the story from my Silver Scream review, you leave the theater and find yourself in a mysterious town known as Horrorwood, where violence from movies is real and you have to stay alive and not get killed. You successfully avoid the brutal madness and escape the town. "A Rash Decision" is based on the Cabin Fever franchise, and mixes the fast tempo, screams, and riffs of metalcore with the melodic experiments of electronica, horns and choir. Lots of contrasting layers! You find a cabin in the woods and camp out there, but then you find out that the previous owners were decomposed alive by a flesh-eating virus, so you take the time to consider fleeing. The experimentation continues in "Assault & Batteries", based on the Chucky series (Child's Play), where after a couple news broadcast samples, child singing adds to the incoming terror. While mostly referring to the first Chucky film, his bride is sometimes mentioned ("stitched back together it seems, by the evil bride of his dreams"), further expanding the concept to the rest of the franchise. You find a doll in an old abandoned shelf, but it comes to life and tries to murder you, but you outrun it and hide in a room with the door locked.

You already know what "The Shower Scene" is about! I was a little surprised that the band didn't reference Psycho, one of the most iconic 20th century horror films of all time in the first Silver Scream album, so I'm glad they haven't forgotten about it in this one. The frantic chaos of the first 3 songs is replaced with melody while keeping the usual horror-themed metalcore, evident in the catchy chorus and vocals. They've really done that film justice here, with the sound effects from the eponymous shower scene kept in, including the violin sting, knife sounds, and terrified screams. In that room, you find a bathroom and decide to shower in there to refresh yourself after feeling a bit filthy from your journey so far. However, a shadowy figure appears and tries to kill you, but you knock it out with the shower head and take its knife, then quickly dry yourself off, put your clothes back on and escape the cabin via a window. "Funeral Derangements" is a heavy fast one based on Pet Sematary, in fact basing the music and lyrics on the score and sounds of the movie, the latter coming from a truck horn and a laughing child. While running through the woods, you find a pet cemetery where animals rise from their graves as the undead. "Rainy Day" is based on the Resident Evil movie, which itself is based on the video game series and that makes me wonder if they should've saved it for a horror video game tribute album. The highly different gamer-industrial tones produce a vibe of video games and early 2000s action film soundtracks. After escaping the cemetery, you find a manhole and crawl down, but end up in a sewer filled with human zombies infected by the T-virus that can possess humans and animals. You fight off the zombies and climb up another manhole into the streets of a different town on a rainy day. "Hip to Be Scared" is based on American Psycho, and the first single of the album. They've really executed their sound like an execution! Great parts of the song include the sample of the original Huey Lewis song, and background vocals by Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach. You run into a banker who happens to be a serial killer preying on random innocent people. You incapacitate him and run off.

"Take Your Pick", based on My Bloody Valentine, features Cannibal Corpse vocalist Corpsegrinder in probably the most brutal heaviest song of the album, an outright mix of death metal and metalcore (equals deathcore). This collaboration would really hack your face with a pickaxe. You end up in a Valentine's Day festival which seems nice at first until a powerful serial killer in mining gear attacks. You hide under a booth and wait helplessly for the massacre to be over. The hellishly killer "The Box", based on the Hellraiser films, adds in melodic harmonies, especially in the emotional chorus, helped out by Brandon Saller (Atreyu), and guttural growls backed up by Ryan Kirby (Fit For A King), both guest vocalists adding to the metalcore greatness. Once you safely emerge from the booth and find yourself in the abandoned aftermath of the slaughter, you see a mystical puzzle box and accidentally use it to summon the deadly Cenobites. Fortunately, before they could have the chance to attack, you reverse the motions needed to open the box and send them back to whence they came. You throw the box away and wander off. "F.L.Y." focuses on melodies with Charnas singing alongside Senses Fail's Buddy Nielsen, while still having the kick-A guitars. Contrary to speculations, this wasn't based on The Silence of the Lambs which uses the motto "First Love Yourself", instead it's based on The Fly, which I guess makes more sense. After leaving the massacred Valentine's Day Festival, you find a laboratory but a fly monster crashes outta there and you outrun it. German growling starts the German-phrase-littered "Wurst Vacation" based on the porno-torture film Hostel. Those German phrases, along with strings and an electronic chorus, give the song a Rammstein vibe. You find a hotel, but out of nowhere, you are knocked out and sent to a torture chamber.

Vaudeville throwback "Ex Mortis", based on Evil Dead, continues the theatrical vibe from the previous album's epic finale. Horns and piano add to the song's groovy action. It also fits well with the madness of Army of Darkness. Once you wake up, you find yourself surrounded by demons and spirits, waiting to possess you. After fading out from the previous song, bees start buzzing while "Farewell II Flesh" begins, the longest INK song at 5 minutes since the debut's "Family Unites", based on Candyman, with soothing yet eerie piano as the story of the Candyman is introduced. After layers of dramatic atmosphere, more layers come in thanks to the other instruments that create metalcore riffing from the guitars. The leader of the spirits is the legendary Candyman who plans to kill you if you say his name repeatedly. You refuse to say his name and instead attack him and the spirits. You find a fireplace in the torture chamber and shove the Candyman, destroying him. The spirits freeze and graphically decompose. During the string bridge, you leave the chamber and find yourself in a different forest, with the chamber being just another cabin. Then when the last chorus comes in, an unseen entity attacks you from behind and possesses you. As it turns out, the entity is a spirit similar to the ones led by Candyman, but it's a different one summoned by the surviving villains of the scenarios from my reviews for the previous two albums; Dracula, Carrie, Killer Santa, and Pennywise. During the final growling outro, you come to and are possessed to become part of this league of evil horror. To be continued... (maybe?) Cue more bee noises to end the album and experience.

Nope, this sequel does not suck at all. The sequel movies I would compare this album to would be Terminator 2 and Aliens; as great as the first whether it's the subtlety or the action that you like. Hope you have a killer experience with The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood. I've done so, with an insane scenario to come along with it!

Favorites: "Welcome to Horrorwood", "A Rash Decision", "The Shower Scene", "Hip to Be Scared", "The Box", "F.L.Y.", "Farewell II Flesh"