KITTIE
“Fire”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10
11/10

Kittie are a heavy metal band from Canada formed in 1998 by the Lander sisters, (drummer) Mercedes and (singer, guitarist) Morgan, the band releasing seven albums to date, the latest of which ‘Fire’ was released in 2024…

…an incredible thirteen years after the bands previous album – and seven years after Kittie announced they were on an “indefinite hiatus”. So after such a long break from the metal scene, have the four-piece metal band – comprising Tara McLeod (guitarist) and Ivy Vujic (bassist) alongside Mercedes and Morgan – mellowed! Fuck no, they’re just as heavy, aggressive and in your face as always, boasting a sound that brings together a number of genres – genres such as thrash, groove, death, alternative and (the bands original characterization) nu-metal! The bands new album is a raging, roaring cacophony of heavy hitting heavy metal that’s blunt and to the point, yet incredibly infectious with a very strong melodious intent. ‘Fire’ is just thirty six minutes in length with ten songs to enjoy – the title song ‘Fire’ opening the album with a high level of savagery, due in large to the aggression fuelled and frightening vocal scream from singer Morgan! Sent a shiver right down my spine that scream did! The heavy pummelling pouring outta ‘Fire’ (the song) is gonna flatten listeners, violently breaking bones and crushing skulls! What a fucking start, and one that proves the band haven’t mellowed in the slightest!

If anything, there’s a new, fresher ferocity oozing from the band, the aggressive vocal snarl that introduces ‘I Still Wear This Crown’ scary to the fucking max! Yet Morgan isn’t just all about snarling aggression, the singer effortlessly switching to clean and clear vocals, embodying the essence of every single genre of metal fuelling the bands sound. I tell ya readers, if you’re looking for a melodic metal album to casually sing a long to – you’re looking in the wrong fucking place! This is an album to let it all out, anger, aggression, frustration, whatever has wound you up all day – scream and shout with Kittie and let it all drain away! And quickly too, for the band has an immediate affect on your mood. I use this style of metal all the time to unwind! And I can hear the shrill cries from non-metalheads clearly asking “how can you unwind to heavy metal? It’s just noise”. I tell ya, they’ll never understand, for heavy metal has a therapeutic, happy mood inducing effect that only metalheads can feel – and I’ve felt it for over forty fucking years! And God willing, I’ll feel it for another forty years to come!

And in the shape of Kittie’s new album releasing copious amounts of dopamine, serotonin and endorphins in my brain, I’m already floating in euphoria – and after just two songs too! Imagine where I’ll be at the albums end! Not worth imagining just yet, for there’s eight more songs to come, the first of which ‘Falter’, maintains the albums bruising nature, sending many listeners diving for the band-aids and painkillers! But not me, I’m a diehard metaller with a skin as tough as Kevlar absolutely revelling in the brutal barrage from the Canadian four-piece – ‘Falter’ a ferocious and fierce yet melodious march! The thirteen year wait for new material has well and truly been worth it – and don’t forget, the band broke up seven years ago! So for a long time it appeared we’d never hear from Kittie again – but never say never eh! The band are back and battering the airways with just as much, maybe more, brutality than ever – ‘Vultures’ a searing rampage of all out aggression that’s gonna knock your fucking block off! Yet the bands incredible melodious intent still simmers just below the surface, raising its head up every so often to remind everyone that Kittie isn’t just a fierce force of nature that takes no prisoners! Flexibility and variation in abundance – just what the doctor ordered! The metal doctor that is!

The bands unique mix of thrash, groove, death, alternative and nu-metal has elements of Grunge tucked in there too, ‘Fire’ (the album) turning a touch abrasive with the up tempo ‘We Are Shadows’, actually featuring more clean vocals than any other song heard up to this point. Don’t get me wrong, the snarling growl still makes an appearance, but I reckon a few power metal fans may find something here to peak their interest – Kittie still refusing wholeheartedly to be pigeon-holed into only the one genre of metal! And leading with thrash, ‘Wound’ is gonna get every thrasher head banging hard right from the off, the band exploding outta the blocks with top shelf ferocity! Yet as has been heard across the entire album so far, Kittie infuse loads of styles into every song on offer, tightly holding everyone’s attentions and never letting go! And let’s be honest here, if I was let go I wouldn’t wanna go anywhere, I’m totally enjoying this album too much! But then, can you actually enjoy something too much? Fuck no! I’ve enjoyed heavy metal for over four decades and still get goose bumps now when I hear new – and old metal! In fact, some of my favourite “go to” albums are from the eighties – albums such as Iron Maiden’s ‘The Number Of The Beast’ (1982), Grave Digger’s ‘Heavy Metal Breakdown’ (1984), Helloween’s ‘Walls Of Jericho’ (1985), and Slayer’s ‘Reign In Blood’ (1986).

So with goose bumps standing just as high as my level of enjoyment, ‘One Foot In The Grave’ enters the fray with a rockier beginning than any song on ‘Fire’ (the album). Only the beginning mind, for the band have other ideas and launch headlong into a traditional heavy metal gallop with only a small sprinkling of the albums overall savage nature! But believe me, when that sprinkling comes to the surface it’s just as ferocious as every other serving of savagery heard previously! And it’s with a defiant yes that I answer the question posed by ‘Are You Entertained?’ – Kittie delivering a meaner, moodier song than any of the seven songs heard already. The weighty nature of ‘Are You Entertained?’ is heavier than the heaviest thing you can think of, ‘Fire’ (the album) maintaining its quick fire approach as every song on the album clocks in at under four minutes in length! The shortest less than three! No wonder I’m having such a hard time keeping up with the band!

But I’ll let you into a little secret right now, I’ve had to replay each song at least three times just to give me enough time to type up all my ideas and thoughts – ‘Grime’ striding in with fiery intent and a crushing thrash metal mentality! Not to mention a little groove metal swagger too, the band still evolving their sound, pushing boundaries into new and uncharted territory – all the while keeping one foot firmly rooted in heavy metal. ‘Cause that’s who Kittie are, a multi-genre, multi-layered metal machine fuelled by aggression and an in your face attitude! And it’s with a huge pang of sadness that ‘Fire’ (the album) has reached its final song – but as I’ve always said “the replay button was invented for albums just like this”. So go ahead and get yourselves ready to press that replay button, but not before the album closer ‘Eyes Wide Open’ has stomped on by! ‘Cause ‘Eyes Wide Open’ stomps the ground harder than anything heard previously, Kittie maintaining an unbroken level of intensity. What an album and what a band, fingers crossed we don’t have to wait another thirteen years for new music from the Canadian metallers.

Overall, a fierce, feisty and ferocious barrage of heavy metal layered with elements of death, groove and thrash.

TRACKLIST

Fire
I Still Wear This Crown
Falter
Vultures
We Are Shadows
Wound
One Foot In The Grave
Are You Entertained? 
Grime
Eyes Wide Open

https://www.kittie.net/
https://www.facebook.com/kittiepage/

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