I'm going to confess something right off the bat... Prior to The Predator, I had never listened to Ice Nine Kills. I fell victim to thinking that they were just another generic post-hardcore band simply because of their name - a stupid mistake, I know. As soon as I hit the play button and "The Coffin Is Moving" starting ringing through my ears, I noticed just how stupid my mistake was.
The Predator opens with the vocalist screaming "We are the walking dead". As he nears the end of the line, the listener is greeted with the first surprise of the EP; impressive guitar leads from a post-hardcore band! "The Coffin Is Moving" features several excellent riffs, a little guitar solo, above average drumming, and very strong vocals, but it's only the tip of the iceberg. The second track, "Father's Day", isn't quite as technical but it sounds just as good because the clean vocals are even stronger than they were on the EP's opening track.
While the first two tracks on The Predator were full of energy, "What I Never Learned In Study Hall" (which features Tyler Carter) almost seems like a rock ballad/interlude. However, this is by no means a bad thing; it just gives the listener more variety. Ice Nine Kills soon gets back to the style heard on the first two tracks, though, with my personal favourite titled "A Reptile's Dysfunction". This track is definitely the most full song on the EP, combining the excellent leads heard on the first track, the catchy cleans heard on the second track, and the strong screams heard throughout the EP. But wait...there's more! "A Reptile's Dysfunction" also features some ambient leads that are reminiscent of 'djent' bands like TesseracT and Monuments, and a huge breakdown!
The final track is a cover of Adele's "Someone Like You". In all honesty, I wasn't very fond of the cover at first because it sounds like something that should have been on Punk Goes Pop 5. However, as the song went along and the screams came into play, it slowly started to become more appealing to me. Even though it was becoming more appealing to me, I would have preferred if Ice Nine Kills left this cover off the EP. In an otherwise nearly perfect release, "Someone Like You" is the only weak spot.
The post-hardcore/metalcore genre is heavily over-saturated with mediocrity and The Predator was a very pleasant surprise, because simply put, Ice Nine Kills does this sound right. Instead of the typical "breakdown, chug, clean vocal chorus, chug, chorus, breakdown, chorus" formula, Ice Nine Kills throws in several eyebrow-raising leads and the drumming is spectacular. There is still a fair share of chugging and a few breakdowns, but everything is executed very well and usually accompanied by melody. If you're a fan of heavier post-hardcore (Like Moths To Flames, for example) with a touch of more technical metalcore (Oh, Sleeper), I suggest that you keep your eyes/ears out for Ice Nine Kills and their forthcoming release, The Predator.
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I really loved their cover actually haha. But I'm a sucker for novelty covers.
ReplyDeleteWhat I Never Learned In Study Hall isn't as intense/hardcore because it's an old song of theirs, they re-record a lot of stuff, and that one is old
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info, and thanks for reading!
ReplyDeleteActually Brian, What I Never Learned In Study Hall is the third song of a trio from their original EP, the Burning, and now the Predator
ReplyDeletesup duder its kaleb, Theres this amazing book called "cats cradle" by kurt vonnegut. And even though i'm not a fan of this band, i wonder if they got their name from that book, this scientist who worked on the manhattan project (in the book, of course) was always approached by the military for ideas, one general suggested he find a cure for mud, he "made up" something , more of an idea, to "please" the general (later he finds out it's real) called ice-nine, it's supposed to freeze the mud and free the soldiers, but there was a catastrophic consequence behind it, i've always loved the first time they talk about it, its amazing. This is between the narrator, and another dr. (not the one who invented ice nine)
ReplyDelete"And all the puddles in the frozen muck?
They would freeze?
You bet they would! And the United States Marines would rise from the swamp and march on!
There is such stuff?
No, no, no, no. I only told you all this in order to give you some insight into the extraordinary novelty of the ways in which Felix was likely to approach an old problem. What I’ve told you is what he told the Marine general who was hounding him about mud.
If the streams flowing through the swamp froze as ice-nine, what about the rivers and the lakes the streams fed?
They’d freeze. But there is no such thing as ice-nine.
And the oceans the frozen rivers fed?
They’d freeze, of course. I suppose you’re going to rush to market with a sensational story about ice-nine now. I tell you, it does not exist!
And the springs feeding the frozen lakes and streams, and all the water underground feeding the springs?
They’d freeze, damn it! But if I had known you were a member of the yellow press, I wouldn’t have wasted a minute with you!
And the rain?
When it fell, it would freeze into hard little hobnails of ice-nine—and that would be the end of the world! And the end of the interview too! Goodbye!"