The band that made me fall in love with music again

From a young age, music has always been my drug of choice. Whenever I was having a bad day, there was nothing quite like music to make me feel better. With very different tastes ranging from heavy metal, rap, hip-hop, pop and hell, even a little bit of classical thrown in there, I have always had an album or playlist depending on my mood. And of course, going to concerts is an amazing rush in itself, being close to that artist you love and wishing they could see you in the crowd.

But for years, my interest started to slip and I was no longer searching for new music to listen to, when you fall into a state of depression you lose passion for everything you once loved. If I did listen to anything, it would be music that I had been listening to for years and I could feel myself getting bored of the same old stuff.

That was until good old Spotify threw a new band in my direction, one that I'd never heard of before, one that had a name that intrigued me and that first song I heard ignited a flame in my soul that I hadn't felt in a long time: Ice Nine Kills.

An American metalcore band from Boston, Massachussets, their music is predominantly horror themed, with their latest two albums being based on popular horror films and books such as Nightmare on elm Street and Dracula. Being a horror fan myself, Ice Nine Kills was the perfect band to reignite my love for music, especially heavy music. Not only is their music amazing, they make awesome music videos too!

The band was originally formed under the name Ice Nine (a fictional substance from a book called Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut) and they pursued a ska-punk style at first before moving on to the metalcore style that they are known for today.

Since their formation, many members have come and gone from the band, but their lead vocalist and founder (alongside a high school friend named Jeremy Schwartz) Spencer Charnas is the only original member.

As well as the band, Spencer Charnas has a clothing line aimed towards horror fans, as well as monthly merchandise updates for the band. As long as I have been a music fan, I have never owned so much merch by one band in my life, I have given them so much of my money! (and they deserve every penny). I seriously cannot wait for the opportunity to see them live in the future, I am praying for a UK tour when the world goes somewhat back to normal.

A really fun fact about them that I find very amusing? They were banned from playing a show at Disney World in Florida because of their 'Violent Imagery". In response, they played a show in a venue round the corner for their fans and released a line of 'Anti-Disney' merchandise. This is what makes me love them more.

So if like me you're a bit of a metalhead, horror fan and crave new music, I promise this is the band for you. The song Stabbing in the Dark, that is based on the 1978 classic Halloween gave me literal chills.