Theatre of Ice brought a modern approach to gothic-horror themes by tackling the idea of an underground spook show in the contemporary world.
The name was changed to Theatre of Ice at the end of 1979 and reflected the bands notion of a person sitting alone bathed in the silvery cold light of their television, slowing losing touch with reality.
Rather than opting for one musical style the album alternates between hard razor-sharp, creepy-crawly punk rock with echo like wolf howls to textural synthesizer soundtracks filled with strange noises.
Simultaneously scarier and more accessible, the album had the effect of polarizing their audience into two camps; those that considered the band to be basically a kitschy novelty act and those that thought Theatre of Ice to be unholy prophets from the underworld.
Ultimately the album failed to garner the group a wider audience beyond their small, but rabid, cult following and was considered a major disappointment by their record company.
The most infamous of these altercations occurred in August 1983 when a group of crazed fans abducted the band for nearly 48 hours before a performance in Reno, Nevada.
[4] The final live performance of Theatre of Ice (at least that is what it was believed to be at the time) took place during the autumnal equinox in 1983 in a vast alkaline desert flat, littered with hundreds of dead animal skeletons, and located about 25 miles from the family's farm in remote Fallon, Nevada.
[5] A Cool Dark Place to Die was initially conceived as a solo project for lead vocalist Brent Johnson but instead became the band's third and one of their most critically acclaimed work.
Synthesizers projecting ethereal dischords to the back of the head; quiet but crashing guitars; unconventional percussion, and vocals that sound as if they are about to commit suicide.
Labeled as "A limited edition sampling of the works of Theatre of Ice as chosen by friends who hate the band" it included songs from their first three albums as well as a few newly recorded tracks.
At the conclusion of the recording process the band chose to set fire to the barn and with it destroy all lyric sheets, correspondences, tapes, photos and videos that were in their possession.
Imagine Poe living in the contemporary family, and then you'll sense how Mouse Blood flows through the dark night of domestic horror.
With Dale Garrard, John and Brent Johnson all playing guitar as well as other instruments the album took on a dark, heavy, near metal sound; this was not seen initially as a positive direction for the band by their label who wanted them to stick closer to the sound of their previous two albums, which had become the biggest commercial successes the Demented Mind Mill had.
The label soon changed their mind when promotional versions of "Gone With The Worms", and "Tomorrow Never Comes", the first two songs released for the new album, received favorable responses from radio stations across Europe.
What is well documented is that the band chose a small unused and seldom cared for cemetery to record these two previously mentioned dark and moody pieces.
Live versions of the previously released Funeral Games and the newly penned Santa Claws (written 30 minutes before they took the stage) were included on The Resurrection in an attempt to end the rumors that the band had indeed committed suicide six months earlier in the "Mouse Blood Fire", a rumor that had continued to grow despite the announced release of a newly recorded album.
To this date it is unknown how many actual copies were pressed or sold, the album is almost impossible to find and rarely comes up for sale on any of the internet auction sites.
Even though John Johnson is credited as playing on the album, it is a known fact that he had previously left the group and only appears on the two live recordings.
With songs as diverse as "Dreams of Fire" and "In The Attic", the album greatly increased their fan base and for the first time put them on the radar of college radio stations across the country.
To accommodate the tour three new members were added to the band; Jay Planty on guitar, Ted Preiss on bass, and Jason Cobb on drums.
On New Year's Eve, 1986, the tour concluded in Fallon, Nevada, the birthplace of the band, with a performance in what had long been alleged to be a haunted slaughterhouse.
A large concrete edifice, the abandoned slaughterhouse had been the site of many strange sightings and the subject of local ghost stories for over 20 years.
More of a video shoot and recording session than an actual concert, it was made open to the public and several hundred of the locals braved the spirits and the cold to attend the show.
With their now stripped down, punkier sound, the band tore through several versions of "In the Attic", "Miron", "Gone With the Worms", "A Cool Dark Place to Die", "Red Asphalt" and "Within the Ruins of a Mind".
The album departed greatly from all of their previous efforts and included several mainstream sounding rock songs with slick production values.
It was only through a miscommunication with the printers and pressing plant that the wrong cover and labels were printed and The Dead became the band's seventh album.
halls, jr. high auditoriums, movie theaters, skating rinks, hamburger joints, even an abandoned grocery store.
Songs about killing girlfriends, suicidal maniacs, and child molesters were undoubtedly not the normal family home evening fare in small-town Utah.
So it was no surprise that Orphanage Records decided to release a live version of the song as the title track of the band's next 7 inch ep.