The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood (2021)

The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood (also known as Welcome to Horrorwood: The Silver Scream 2 or either simply Welcome to Horrorwood or The Silver Scream 2) is the sixth studio album by the American heavy metal band Ice Nine Kills, released on October 15, 2021, via Fearless. It is the band's first album to feature bassist Joseph Occhiuti and guitarists Dan Sugarman and Ricky Armellino, and the only album to feature drummer Patrick Galante.

It is a follow-up and sequel to the band's previous album, The Silver Scream, which was inspired by horror films. The album is also inspired by horror films and features guest vocalists such as Jacoby Shaddix, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, Brandon Saller, Ryan Kirby and Buddy Nielsen. The album became the band's biggest commercial success, reaching number 18 on the US Billboard 200 and number one on the Hard Rock Albums chart.

Background

On October 5, 2018, the band released their fifth studio album The Silver Scream. Each song on the album was inspired by a horror movie. When teasing the single "Hip to Be Scared", inspired by American Psycho, the title of Ice Nine Kills' new album was listed in the credits as The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood. In an interview with Alternative Press, lead vocalist Spencer Charnas stated:

"In Scream 2, Randy points out that the body count is always bigger,” Charnas explains. “The production is upped on every level. There’s more recording budget or filming budget. We went [into The Silver Scream 2] with that lighthearted attitude that we were going to have fun and see how much crazier we could take this newfound style of taking horror movies and converting it into the Ice Nine Kills treatment."

As with the previous album, each of the videos are based on the films that the tracks were written about, while also having an overall story arc across the sequence of videos.

Release

On the ninth of each month leading up to the album's release, a new single and accompanying video was released to promote the album. On July 9, 2021, the band released the lead single from the album, "Hip to Be Scared". The single features Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix and was released along with an accompanying music video.

On August 3, 2021, the band released a teaser video featuring the album's track listing, leading fans to predict and speculate the horror/thriller movies that inspired the songs on the album. On August 9, 2021, the band released the second single, "Assault & Batteries", inspired by Child's Play. On September 9, 2021, the band released the third single, "Rainy Day", inspired by Resident Evil. On October 9, 2021, the band released the fourth single, "Funeral Derangements", inspired by Pet Sematary.

The album was released on October 15, 2021. Four months after the album had released, the band released the fifth single from the record, "Take Your Pick" featuring George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, taking cinematic inspiration from My Bloody Valentine and being released on February 14, 2022, to commemorate Valentine's Day alongside an animated music video. On May 16, 2022, the band released a live video for "The Shower Scene", that the band recorded on "The Trinity of Terror Tour", which the band finished in April along with Black Veil Brides and Motionless in White. This indicated that the song was the next to be released as a single, where the sixth single from the album was officially released on July 29 with a new acoustic rendition.

An official video for "The Shower Scene", taking inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, was released on August 9, 2022. The video features appearances from actors Scout Taylor-Compton, Joe Bob Briggs, and Ricky Dean Logan. The video also features horror YouTube creators, James A. Janisse and Chelsea Rebecca of Dead Meat. The music video narrative across the six released singles feature famous horror actor Bill Moseley as police chief Captain Harris.

Composition

The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood has been described as a metalcore and melodic metalcore album, that experiments with deathcore and emo pop. Blabbermouth.net described the album as "decadent, devious, and fiercely insane, with sardonic wit to spare."

"A Rash Decision" combines metalcore riffs with electronica elements and horns, "Rainy Day" is an industrial metal song, and "Take Your Pick" is a death metal and hardcore punk song. "Welcome to Horrorwood" is a symphonic death metal and pop punk song.

Reception

Critical reception

The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood received critical acclaim. Graham Ray of Distorted Sound called the album "heavier, catchier and more cohesive than [the original] The Silver Scream." Hysteria Magazine described the album as "dramatic, thrilling and fast-paced." In a positive review, Jake Richardson of Kerrang! stated "[The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood is] a unique, thrilling and unpredictable record, The Silver Scream 2 has all the makings of an instant horror hit."