Ice Nine Kills

Referencing Kurt Vonnegut’s apocalyptic novel, “Cat’s Cradle,” Ice Nine Kills deliver a brutal, potent brand of metalcore that certainly lives up to the theme of Vonnegut’s classic. Formed in high school in 2006, after preliminary lineup changes, Ice Nine Kills settled on Spencer Charnas (vocals), Justin deBlieck (guitar/vocals), Justin Morrow (guitars/bass) and Conor Sullivan (drums). Their early music looked to pop punk, ska and post hardcore for influence, releasing an early album in 2006, “Last Chance to Make Amends.” After the album, the band reshuffled and forged a more heavier sound, after they settled on their new lineup in 2007.

In 2007, their first EP arrived, titled “The Burning,” on Red Blue Records. The success of this first release landed them several high profile support slots with the likes of As I Lay Dying, A Day to Remember, Thursday and Paramore, shows which took them across North America.

Ice Nine Kills caught the attention of Ferret Records with their experimental metalcore, who signed the band to their roster in 2009. The band soon got to work on their second full-length, “Safe Is Just a Shadow,” which gained positive critical acclaim from a number of media outlets. The band then joined Warped Tour on several dates that year, before embarking on a headline tour in 2011. In 2012, they also gained a place on the All Stars Tour, opening for big names including Suicide Silence, Dance Gavin Dance and Attila.

Ice Nine Kills returned with new music in 2013, after releasing the EP, “The Predator.” The release was a hit, debuting at number nine on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. After another round on the All Stars Tour with Every Time I Die, they start work on their third album. The result was 2014’s “The Predator Becomes The Prey,” which scored the band their first entry on the Billboard Top 200 album chart, reaching number 153.

The band was signed to Psychopathic Records in 1997, and released their debut album, “Mostateless” with the label in 1997. Their contemporaries at the time, Insane Clown Posse signed with Island Records and helped Twiztid form a relationship with the label too. Island helped the band with the distribution of their album, which went to number 8 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers Chart.

With moderate success on their first album, Twiztid released their sophomore album “Freak Show” on October 31st 2000. The album managed number 51 on the Billboard 200. They released their first EP, “Mirror Mirror” which peaked at number 5 on the Top Independent Albums chart. The ensemble was on a roll, releasing albums three or four times a year. “The Green Book”, released on July 1st 2003, made it to number 2 on the Top Independent Charts, and number 52 on the Billboard 200.

The band maintained similar chart positions throughout the 2000s until their highest charting album “W.I.C.K.E.D” (2009) became their highest charting album, making it to number 11 in the Billboard 200 chart and number 1 on the Top Independent Albums Chart.

Twiztid departed from Psychopathic Records after releasing their 22nd album. They made quite the comeback when they released their 25th album “Get Twiztid on April 15th 2014. The group had started their own label entitled Majik Ninja a couple of months before to propel the release of their forth-coming EPs and full length releases, such as “The Darkness” and “The Moment You’ve All Been Waiting For”.