Posted on: January 29, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Ice Nine Kills – The Burning / 2007 Red Blue / 7 Tracks / http://www.iceninekills.com /

“The Greatest Story Ever Told” is a track that links together the work of bands like Brand New and Taking Back Sunday with the screamed out hardcore of Coalesce and Maroon. The bouncing back and forth between screaming and intensely catchy vocal lines, especially during “The Greatest Story Ever Told” is fun as all get out. It takes Ice Nine Kills only a minute for them to capture the heart of anyone listening in. It is not only that the band plays these two styles during this track but that they are able to create such an intricate and dense track, without losing anyone in regards to a listener base. The band moves away slightly from the radio friendly sound that started out “The Burning” with their “In The Throws of a Moral Quandary”, but do not give up anything in the way of intricate musical arrangements.

Where their second effort on “The Burning” is a little more scattered than the opening salvo, the band is able to make a mini symphony out of a wide array of influences and different genres. No band, even acts like From First To Last, are able to continually craft such a filling and intense set of songs. The band may only have seven songs on “The Burning”, but the resulting half hour of music will stick around listeners’ minds for months, if not years, to come. The band comes back to create a single-worthy track in “Dead Is The New Black”, even as they include an influence that only be called “medieval”. Simply put, Ice Nine Kills is on the fast track to being the next scene / emo band, and in a time where few new acts are able to break it big, I foresee the act doing just that and charting with their next full length.

Top Track: Dead Is The New Black

Rating: 7.8/10

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