Ice Nine Kills Unveil New Matrix-Inspired Single and Music Video, "The Great Unknown"

Horror metal act Ice Nine Kills have returned with a brand new cinematic song, this time taking inspiration from the 1999 sci-fi classic The Matrix. The new track is titled “The Great Unknown”, and features lead vocalist Spencer Charnas taking on the role of Neo and going down the rabbit hole.

The band has always been known to be theatrical in their live performances, marketing campaigns, and live shows. The steps leading up to the release of “The Great Unknown” have been clear since last year, and a section from the press release explains it in further detail:

The release of “The Great Unknown” follows weeks of escalating online speculation surrounding frontman Spencer Charnas’ increasingly cryptic and eerily odd behavior. What began as an unforced marketing misfire quickly snowballed into full-blown internet hysteria, as fans, critics, and commentators dissected increasingly uncanny social posts. Rumors have been swirling that Spencer has been replaced by a highly advanced, if often glitching, artificial intelligence, a notion that first gained traction when longtime Ice Nine Kills antagonist, author and onetime O.J. Simpson golf caddy, Roy Merkin launched into a now-infamous outburst during a panel at last year’s Silver Scream Convention. While the band has neither confirmed nor denied the rumors, the mystery surrounding the recent events continues. A statement from Charnas reads: 

“‘The Great Unknown’ optimizes aggression and melody in a format our core user base consistently engages with. This audio file represents a genre expansion protocol, targeting action and sci-fi verticals proven effective via cross-platform sentiment analysis. ‘The Great Unknown’ is designed to seamlessly interface with current simulation conditions, as categorical boundaries between fact and fiction, organic and synthetic, continue to experience accelerated erosion.”

You can check out the full video for “The Great Unknown” below, and you can definitely bet that many more surprises and mysteries will follow from Ice Nine Kills.

Main Photo Credit: F. Scott Schafer