"The horror-obsessed metalcore mob stand out like a sore thumb." Bloody cadavers, dancing deadites and some of the catchiest tunes you'll hear all summer: Ice Nine Kills triumph in their first audition for future festival headliners

Ice Nine Kills Mystic Festival 2026.

Mystic isn't just Poland's biggest metal festival. It's also turned out to be a proving ground for bands old and new, giving the likes of Danzig, In Flames, Sepultura and more the chance to really shine away from depressing mid-afternoon slots with a huge production and dramatic setting in Gdansk Shipyard.

No strangers to a bit of dramatic flair are Wednesday's headliners Ice Nine Kills. Megadeth aside, they're likely the biggest band on the bill, having completed a massive arena tour of Europe and the UK last year and landed songs on the soundtrack to movies including Terrifier 3, Scream 7 and Ready Or Not 2 to help them genuinely cross over into pop culture.

But this is only INK's sixth time in Poland, meaning they face something of an uphill battle. Topping a day that featured the likes of Six Feet Under, Grave and A.A. Williams, the horror-obsessed metalcore mob stand out like a sore thumb and it's obvious that even with an enthusiastic audience, the chances of a field-wide singalong are slim.

Not that it stops them from putting on one hell of a show. Vocalist Spencer Charnas is wheeled out Hannibal Lecter style for opener Meat & Greet and from there we're off to the races. There's barely a song in the INK set that doesn't come with some big production flourish. A screaming crew member is stabbed to death on Stabbing In The Dark, a dancing deadite springs across the stage for Ex-Mørtis and for more recent single The Laugh Track Spencer dresses up as a Tim Burton-era Joker while crew members chuck fake dollars into the crowd.

It's all very familiar and a bit of GWAR gore would go a long way, but that doesn't stop it being inredibly fun. Some bits fall flat - the long intro videos suck some energy out and a cover of NoFx's Linoleum would probably be better suited to a Download or Rock AM Ring crowd - but its the mark of a great band when they can win over a crowd that isn't already theirs, and the big wall of death for A Work Of Art - orchestrated by Art The Clown himself, naturally - is a sure sign that INK are doing everything right to become festival headliners in their own right.

(Image credit: Justyna Kamińska for Mystic Festival)

Ice Nine Kills Setlist Mystic Festival 2026 June 3 2026

1. Meat & Greet
2. Wurst Vacation
3. Ex-Mortis
4. The Laugh Track
5. A Grave Mistake
6. Funeral Derangements
7. Linoleum
8. The Shower Scene
9. Hell Or High Slaughter
10. The Great Unknown
11. Stabbing In The Dark
12. Welcome To Horrorwood
13. Twisting The Knife
14. Hip To Be Scared
15. IT Is The End
16. The American Nightmare
17. A Work Of Art