LIVE REVIEW: Ice Nine Kills @ Co-op Live, Manchester
From gut-busting breakdowns to slasher-filled moments of suspense, both on screen and in the pit, ICE NINE KILLS UK and European leg of the A Work Of Art tour promises nothing short of a spectacle. Boasting the debut of their infamous Silver Scream Con in London – the band’s own frightful horror convention – they bring with them their first headline stadium run outside of America. Here, the real nightmare before Christmas can be seen in the near 20,000 horror metal fans descending in their droves to Manchester’s Co-op Live. With anticipation of blood, guts and garishly grandiose gore, can they deliver?
Defrosting Spencer Charnas and the gang for that festively cold October / December window is no easy feat, so to warm the crowd up, they’ve brought with them TX2, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and CREEPER. Openers TX2 had a tough job, as a band built from their explosive yet viral debut I Would Hate Me Too. It’s clear they’ve opted to push for a heavier sound, throwing breakdowns into the basin like a wet sponge in the sink. Whilst it can be easy to judge quickly, with their all-or-nothing knee slides cutting up the Co-op Live, there was clearly a generation taken wholeheartedly by this band. In a similar way to how GET SCARED became a voice to millennials in the early 2000s, there is something unique that the band delivers.
Rating: 5/10
It may seem a little odd that Ohio heavyweights THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA joined ICE NINE KILLS for this tour, but rom-coms and horror movies are arguably tied for the best cinematic setting for a first date. Surprisingly, they work well together, plastering the Midsommar-esque album artwork of their latest release, Flowers, on the projected screens at the back of the stage. It’s definitely a new direction for the band, opting for a bright electronic-infused sound that bleeds with a punk sentimentality. Even still, the camaraderie between the two lead vocalists, Jeremy DePoyster and Mike Hranica, led to an uplifting and triumphant show, set against a backdrop of thousands of dazzling lights, as they dimmed the lights for scene-stealer Chemical.
Rating: 7/10
CREEPER‘s well-timed arrival after the brightness of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA signified a sundowning. This is a transformed band from when we last saw them – thirsty for the twenty thousand souls putting their lives on the line to see them. This tour is their first international outing since the release of Sanguivore II: Mistress Of Death, and the vampires have certainly lost their punkish mortality championed with their earlier work, leaving the crowd with a brutal setlist of the best of the last two albums. How this is felt with the wider band’s fanbase is uncertain; however, the band being as blissfully cool as they are, the set leaves no survivors. The leather-clad ghouls melt into their set, soundtracked by dazzling guitar solos and Hannah Greenwood‘s stunning vocals. Will Gould‘s newly found fry screams add a wicked texture to Parasite. In return, the crowd churns for ghoulish renditions of Headstones and Blood Magick (It’s A Ritual). With their devilishly intimate UK run announced for next year, 2025 was the year that CREEPER truly became a cult.
Rating: 8/10
For ICE NINE KILLS, the serial killers are the superstars. As the blood-red curtain drops, the front row is face-to-face with a cannibal. Hannibal Lecter, released by frontman Spencer Charnas during Meet & Greet, prowls the stage before coming across his first victim. Punchy, brash and with fire, the stage erupts, and the band have spared no expense to push pure cinematic immersion – even the corpses are carried lifeless off the stage. Aside, of course, from the ginormous inflatable Grim Reaper towering over proceedings.
Thrilling as ever, ICE NINE KILLS are here on business. Suit-clad, they own the stage, racing up and down a huge multi-layered screen. Above them, the glowing XI marks the spot for death. And killing is their custom. With each song, a new film is added to the impressive roster of slasher, ghoul and geist. Charnas dons the plastic raincoat to be Patrick Bateman in Hip To Be Scared, swinging his axe with glee. Ely Roth‘s incomparable Hostel is immortalised in Wurst Vacation, complete with kitchen cleavers and a bad attitude. The band even recreates the iconic murder from Psycho in The Shower Scene.
Impressively, the audience knows every line. It is such a sweet undertone to the dark deeds carried out on the stage. In some ways, it adds to the theatricality of the performance. Comic, crude and cruel, they set the scene with a unique video introduction, some being found footage, others featuring cameos of Five Nights At Freddie‘s star Matthew Lillard, and more recently in London, their announcement for their collaboration with the latest edition of the Scream franchise. What is so appealing to this crowd is that the band goes beyond the realms of metal, that tenterhook niche of terror-inspired spectacle, even platforming their own horror convention in the capital.
The dazzling lights of Horrorwood, the band’s own twisted universe, shine brightest at their grand finale, bringing Terrifer‘s David Howard Thornton on stage to reprise his role as Art, the enigmatic Clown. Showcasing the peak of the band’s performance, is certainly its most gory, and it also features the vocals of CREEPER‘s Hannah Greenwood to start the proceedings. As stomachs settle on this last hurrah, one thing remains certain: this is an arena-level act and a stage that ICE NINE KILLS were destined to perform on. There is no doubt, the performance was tight, visually and sonically, and was made wholeheartedly with the fans in mind.
Above it all, the fans cherish the band’s wicked sense of humour. In all the blood, chaos and gore, there is always a brighter side to seeing the pleasure through the pain. As the band cleave their set with ska hits (from their infamous origins as a ska band), these moments of light relief shine through their set, featuring brass from members of REEL BIG FISH.
Of course, with everything they do, it’s done their way. As they pick up KATRINA AND THE WAVES’ Walking On Sunshine, it no doubt ends with someone wielding an axe.
Rating: 8/10
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