Review: Ice Nine Kills is Top of Their Game with “Hip To Be Scared”

“This confession has meant…nothing.”

Horror-themed band Ice Nine Kills is a recent discovery of mine. Their best album (as “Hip To Be Scared” proclaims) is undoubtedly The Silver Scream, released in 2018. Most every song is inspired by a horror film, leading to some wildly inventive lyrics and brilliant melodies.

While they specialize in heavy metal, I enjoy Ice Nine Kills the most when they stray from that path. Their acoustic-only live album Undead and Unplugged, recorded at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, is a favorite of mine, because it converts their usually fast-paced and loud songs into subtler, slower versions that I can get on board with.

Ahead of the debut of their new album, The Silver Scream 2: Horrorwood, INK (as they’re known by their fanbase) has released a single from the album entitled “Hip to be Scared.” It’s inspired by American Psycho, and features numerous lyrical references to specific events in the film. They don’t mean much to me at the moment as I haven’t actually seen the film, but what I can appreciate is that the song combines moments of heavy metal with a more subdued melody, fit in between musical skits that poke fun at the band itself. It’s INK at their most self-referential, irreverent humor yet, and I’m here for it.

I feel like this is the beginning of a reinvention, and The Silver Scream was the leap they needed to get here. If The Silver Scream 2 includes more songs like this, I’m fully on board. And if the devil makes exceptions, consider me an All-American Psycho. [Grade: A]