KITTIE - review added 20th October 2009
Album Review: In The Black (2009)
For fans of: Alt Metal... and music that will crack your skull
Canadian band Kittie was formed in 1996 and up to now have 4 albums to their name. In The Black, their 5th studio release, follows 2007's Funeral For Yesterday.
They are described in the press blurb as "The heaviest all-girl band in the Nu-metal scene". I have no idea where the 'Nu-Metal' tag comes from. the music here bears no relation whatsoever to that cack-handed genre that plagued the rock scene for a number years a decade back. In The Black mixes it up genre wise for sure, but it flits between impossibly heavy death metal and frankly boring straight ahead rock. There is very little in between.
The band consists of founder members Morgan Lander (guitar, vocals) and Mercedes Lander (drums), plus 2005 inductee Tara McLeod (guitar) and new member Ivy Vujic (bass).
The first full track 'My Plague' sounds like a really, properly good take on Lamb Of God. The sound is just amazing - there's groove, power, and beats you could use to attack a screaming horde of demons. The interaction between the drums, strings and vocals will leave you open mouthed. If all heavy/death metal sounded this good there would be no need for any other type of music.
'Cut Throat' sounds just as good too. I would die for that guitar tone, and Morgan's guttural intonations will enter your very soul. But, and this is a real f*cker, she then starts singing in a clean tone. Her clean voice is actually good - better than a lot of purely-clean singers - but it doesn't hold a candle to her throaty vocals. It makes the music sound obvious and non-special, and that's a shame. When she does her dying beelzebub howls, There are few people I can think of in music who sound better.
'Die My Darling' continues the trend towards the monotonous and obvious. The clean vocals begin to take over, even the guitars become lighter and softer. No need! 'Sorrow I Know' is slow, dull and frankly rubbish. Matters return very quickly to the positive with the absolutely stonking (in places) 'Forgive And Forgive'. I say 'in places' because, again, those clean vocals rear their unnecessary head again and spoil matters. We want a can of whoop-ass, not a bunch of flowers!
'Now Or Never' mixes it up too, 'Falling Down' is very similar to 'Sorrow I Know', 'Sleepwalking' is slow, clean and disappointing. 'Whiskey Love Song' is heavier and quicker, but still not quite there. 'Ready Aim Riot' is nearly there. Final track 'The Truth' is interesting, I'll grant them that. It's a tad self indulgent but, at least, isn't safe.
God this band could make an astonishingly great album! This isn't it, not by a long way, but the sounds they can get from their respective instruments are beyond description. If they could make an album that sounded like 'My Plague' or the start of 'Forgive And Forgive' it would dominate. This album isn't terrible but, here's the rub, it shows just what they are capable of and makes everything else they do sound weak in comparison. Here's to next time!
Check out... The sound they make when they go for it.
Track List:
1. Kingdom Come
2. My Plague
3. Cut Throat
4. Die My Darling
5. Sorrow I Know
6. Forgive And Forget
7. Now Or Never
8. Falling Down
9. Sleepwalking
10. Whiskey Love Song
11. Ready Aim Riot
12. The Truth
Label: Massacre Records
Artist's website(s): Kittie | MySpace | Facebook
