I Heard They KILL Live!
Ice Nine Kills in Indianapolis, IN
11-7-2023
Ice Nine Kills (INK) puts on, once again, a killer performance while on the Kiss of Death Tour. The Massachusetts “horror-core” band have just ended their month long tour with In This Moment, supported by Avatar and New Year’s Day on December 2nd.
The audience was electric when the first few notes of “Hip To Be Scared” started playing and the band hit the stage. Stage actor Michael Meaney contributed to this beginning energy with his role as Paul Allen from hit film “American Psycho”. The unity felt within the crowd when everyone shouted “HEY PAUL!” right before the breakdown was unmatched.
The setlist consisted of a healthy mix of new and old songs that catered to both the new and older fans. They started with songs off of “Welcome To Horrorwood” (2021) and “The Silver Scream” (2018), but added in a song from the 2014 album “The Predator Becomes The Prey”, as per fan request through the Psycho’s Only app.
The set consisted of many visuals that referenced horror movies, most notably the performance of the song “The Shower Scene”. This act visualizes the 1960 film “Psycho”, in which Amanda Sahr plays the role of Marion Crane, and INK’s frontman Spencer Charnas plays his own version of Norman Bates. The song is another tune in which crowd participation is incredible. Hearing everyone shout the chorus together during one of the music breaks is such a powering experience to hear as a fan.
Throughout my years of supporting INK, I have been faced with nothing but community in regards to interacting with other fans. Everyone seems to come together and share their common interests in heavy metal, horror, and performance art.
At this show, I was with a good friend of mine, Miko Puno. He is a fellow photographer based in Indianapolis, and was happy to come along with me to the show, despite not listening to metal.
“From a person who does not listen to metal, I enjoyed it significantly, and quite frankly, I’d go on to say I would do it again.” He says to me when asked about his thoughts on the show, “I was told Ice Nine Kills would be the highlight of the night, and they were correct. If I were to only talk about the ‘sights’ of Ice Nine, it was a sight to behold. Numerous horror movie references, as well as evident passion for their music and their role; it was clear to me that they loved their music, and their fans sure did too.”
My personal favorite song to see performed that night was the newest released song “Meat & Greet”. This song was released on October 13th of this year, and was the conclusion of the Horrorwood Saga as of now. The song consisted of many references to the film “Silence of the Lambs”, and the live performance of the song didn’t disappoint.
Lane Nobriga and FRANCO, two stage actors for INK, did an incredible job in bringing the song to life and creating intriguing and exciting visualities playing opposing roles as Hannibal Lecter and an officer.
I feel the conclusion to the show was one to remember. The band ended the set with “Welcome To Horrorwood”, containing an exhilarating guitar solo from Miles Dimitri Baker and fast paced drums from Patrick Galante. Normally, in other performances during this song, Charnas would climb into the crowd and be held up by fans during the last chorus, but given the set up of the venue, that didn’t happen this show. Though that didn’t take away from the head-banging, voice-losing, thrilling encore. With Ricky Armellino on guitar and Joe Occhiuti on bass, along with the rest of the band, the whole performance was one to remember. This makes the second time I’ve seen Ice Nine Kills, and I’ve been blown away by their production every time. If you’re a horror/metal fanatic that loves theatrics and passion for music, Ice Nine Kills is the band for you.
