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| Photo: F Scott Schafer |
There are many ways to celebrate Christmas early. ICE NINE KILLS has apparently chosen the most disturbing one.
The horror-loving metal band will create brand-new music for “Terror Tram Starring Art The Clown”, one of the attractions featured at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights this fall.
The event opens on September 3 and runs on select nights through November 1.
And yes, Art The Clown is taking over the Terror Tram.
The infamous killer from the Terrifier franchise arrives on the historic Universal backlot with his blood-soaked sack of presents, only to discover that Christmas has arrived far too early. Rather than waiting for December, Art decides to hijack the tram and turn the entire experience into his own very twisted holiday celebration.
Naturally, this calls for a soundtrack.
That is where ICE NINE KILLS comes in.
The band will provide new music for the attraction, putting their own dark spin on classic Christmas songs. Because apparently the only thing Christmas was missing was Spencer Charnas screaming over a soundtrack written for a homicidal clown.
And the nightmare doesn't necessarily end when visitors escape the tram. Art The Clown may also be lurking elsewhere around the park, waiting for guests who thought they had made it out alive.
BACK TO ART THE CLOWN
This isn't ICE NINE KILLS' first encounter with Art.
The band previously created “A Work Of Art” for Terrifier 3, with Art himself, played by David Howard Thornton, appearing in the accompanying music video. The song has since collected almost 60 million streams and reached No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart.
For ICE NINE KILLS frontman Spencer Charnas, the new collaboration feels like a natural continuation of the band's increasingly tangled relationship with the horror world.
The band has also maintained close connections with the Terrifier team, with director Damien Leone and members of the cast appearing at ICE NINE KILLS' Silver Scream Con events.
And now the relationship is moving from the screen and music video into an actual horror attraction.
HORROR HAS BECOME THE INKVERSE
Over the past few years, ICE NINE KILLS have turned horror into something considerably bigger than a lyrical theme.
Their music has crossed paths with Terrifier 3, Scream 7, Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come and the survival-horror game Dead By Daylight. The band has also built an entire cinematic world around its music through elaborate videos, books, graphic novels, merchandise and the annual Silver Scream Convention.
The band's horror-inspired era has also brought some serious musical milestones. “A Grave Mistake”, inspired by The Crow, has been certified gold by the RIAA, while “Twisting The Knife (Feat. Mckenna Grace)” became the band's first No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.
ICE NINE KILLS have also accumulated more than two billion global streams and over 500 million YouTube views.
Not bad for a band that has spent years turning horror movies into heavy music.
CHRISTMAS IS COMING. ART IS READY.
2026 also marks the 20th anniversary of ICE NINE KILLS' first album, making the band's upcoming appearance at Halloween Horror Nights another chapter in a career that has become increasingly difficult to separate from the horror genre.
This time, however, they aren't simply writing a song inspired by a horror movie.
They're helping soundtrack an entire nightmare.
So if you happen to find yourself on Universal Studios Hollywood's Terror Tram this fall and suddenly hear a familiar Christmas melody taking a very dark turn...
Don't panic.
Actually, panic.
Art The Clown has the tram.
And ICE NINE KILLS have the soundtrack.
