Ice Nine Kills is a horror-themed symphonic metal band. Its music whiplashes from massively abrasive to soaring and grandiose, creating a little push and pull for both extremes to have maximum punch.
Listen hard and you might hear a little emo and even a touch of Broadway behind all the gore, blood and shrieking. But, don’t get me wrong, it’s more Slayer than Sondheim.
The Boston-based band was originally called Ice Nine, which would seem to refer to the mysterious freezing crystal with world-ending capacity in Kurt Vonnegut’s “Cat’s Cradle,” but the band changed the name to Ice Nine Kills to drive home the point, perhaps.
The band has a bookish bent. Horror films and horror culture have pretty much defined this band, and they’ve embraced it. But the band’s 2015 record, “Every Trick In The Book,” draws on literary inspirations for every track — from Orwell, to Shakespeare, Bram Stoker and other sources.
Ice Nine Kills plays on a large bill with six other bands at the Webster Theater, 31 Webster St., Hartford, Friday, Nov. 25. Show starts at 6:30 p.m. $15 to $17. 860-525-5553 and webstertheater.com.
