Ice Nine Kills is an American post-hardcore band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in its earliest incarnation in 2006 by high school friends Spencer Charnas and Jeremy Schwartz, the group originally pursued a style combining pop punk, emo, post-hardcore and ska into their own innovative blend of rock but have since shifted into more of an experimental metalcore hybrid. Charnas is currently the only remaining founding member.
To date, Ice Nine Kills have released two full-length studio albums; Last Chance to Make Amends and Safe Is Just a Shadow and three EPs; The Burning, 2 Song Acoustic and The Predator. Their band name is derived from the fictional substance ice-nine from the science fiction novel Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.
Ice Nine Kills was founded under the name Ice Nine by high school friends Spencer Charnas and Jeremy Schwartz but changed their name to Ice Nine Kills just before releasing their debut independent album Last Chance to Make Amends on April 20, 2006.
The following year on November 20, 2007, Ice Nine Kills released their EP, The Burning through Red Blue Records. The band then set out on several national tours in support of the EP including opening slots on tours with I See Stars and Eyes Set To Kill among others. In the same year, Ice Nine Kills' song, &We Ate Gilbert's Grapes& appeared in the opening and closing credits of the Lionsgate skateboard comedy Dishdogz starring Luke Perry, Haylie Duff, and Ryan Sheckler and by 2008, the group had been invited to open for well-known acts such as As I Lay Dying, A Day To Remember, Thursday, Paramore, and a one off performance at Taste of Chaos 2009. That same year, Ice Nine Kills released 2 acoustic tracks (&The Simple Act of Giving Up& and &Lifetime in a Week&) on an EP titled 2 Song Acoustic.
In mid 2009, Schwartz decided to leave the band after struggling with life on the road. This left Charnas as the only original member. Charnas then recruited former members of the Rochester NY based post-hardcore band Remember Tomorrow which had recently disbanded. This shifted Ice Nine Kills' sound into more of an experimental metalcore sound to which Ferret Music took notice and signed the band in the spring of 2009. After their appearance on Warped Tour 2009 the band began writing and recording what would be their next record. Ice Nine Kills released their second full-length album Safe Is Just a Shadow on July 12, 2010. The album was produced by a three-man team including James Paul Wisner, Steve Sopchack, and Tom Denney. The album received praise from heavy metal magazine, Revolver in the 2010 Hottest Chicks in Rock Issue and subsequently the band was invited to attend the Revolver Golden Gods awards in Los Angeles CA on April 20, 2010. The band supported Safe Is Just a Shadow with a two week appearance on Warped Tour 2010, and a supporting slot with Michigan based nu metal band Taproot. The band performed on a headlining tour in the summer of 2011 as well as a performance at the Darien Lake NY stop of Warped Tour 2011 on the Dzambo Stage. The band released a music video inspired by the film Inglourious Basterds for their song &The People Under the Stairs& on June 20, 2011. That same day the band announced their partnership with Outerloop Management who represent We Came as Romans, Refused, and Periphery among others. The band is currently recording their yet to be titled 3rd full length in Marcellus, NY with Producer Steve Sopchak.
On May 12, 2012, it was announced that INK would be the opening act for the 2012 edition of The All Stars Tour featuring Suicide Silence, The Word Alive, Dance Gavin Dance, I See Stars, and Attila. Prior to The All Stars Tour the band supported Like Moths To Flames on their first headlining tour in Canada in Early June as well as a small midwest run supporting Norma Jean in July.
It was announced on August 16, 2012 that INK would be supporting We Came As Romans and Abandon All Ships for a Canadian Tour taking place September 11 through the 17th. The band will close out 2012 by taking part in the &Party with The Devil& tour with Atilla, Make Me Famous, Issues (band) (ex Woe, Is Me members), and Adestria from October 26- November 15, followed by a short run with Like Moths To Flames from December 2–9.
On November 22, 2012, Ice Nine Kills released an official lyric video for their new single &The Coffin is Moving&. On that same date, they launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to fund their New EP. On December 22 the band announced that they had raised over $21,000 for their Kickstarter campaign and that their new EP &The Predator& would be released on January 15, 2013. To celebrate this announcement they released a second single from the EP entitled &What I Never Learned In Study Hall& featuring guest vocals from Tyler Carter vocalist of Issues (band) and former frontman of Woe, Is Me. The acoustic version of the song will be released on January 8 on the Take Action compilation volume 11 via Hopeless Records. In addition to INK, the Compilation features rare and unreleased tracks from bands such as The Used, We Came As Romans, and Falling In Reverse among others.
On January 9 INK announced tours throughout February and March in support of I See Stars, For All Those Sleeping, The Color Morale, and more.
The band's second EP entitled The Predator was released on January 15, 2013 and debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and at No. 15 on the iTUNES rock charts.
On March 13, 2013, the band announced they would be playing the first 2 weeks of the 2013 Vans Warped Tour on the Ernie Ball stage as well as The All Stars Tour featuring Every Time I Die, Chelsea Grin, Terror, Iwrestledabearonce, and more.
Ice Nine Kills' upcoming album is rumored to be targeting an early 2014 release on a yet to be announced record label.
Current members
※ Spencer Charnas - lead vocals (2006–present)
※ Justin &JD& deBlieck - lead guitar, vocals (2009–present)
※ Justin Morrow - bass guitar (2009–present)
※ Conor Sullivan - drums (2009–present)
Former members
※ Steve Koch - bass guitar, vocals (2011-2013)
※ Shane Bisnett- bass guitar, vocals (2009-2011)
※ Jeremy Schwartz - guitar, vocals (2006-2009)
※ Grant Newsted - drums (2006-2008)
※ Hobie Boeschenstein - bass guitar (2006-2008)
※ Dave Marvuglio - bass guitar (2008-2009)
※ Dave &Felicia& Sieling - vocals (2009)
※ Joseph Merturi - lead guitar (2008)
※ Terrence Donnelly - touring vocalist (2008)
※ Andrew Justin Smith - bass, vocals (2006-2007)