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Lumped in the nü metal genre early on,
KITTIE have done their best to step out of that shadow in recent years.
From title track CD opener, it’s all out metal — hard and heavy with
Morgan Lander’s ferocious bark spilling forth.
The Canadian all-girl quartet have gone
through numerous lineups in the past, but sisters Morgan and Mercedes
Lander have remained constant. This is the third consecutive album with
guitarist Tara McLeod, and bassist Ivy Vujic has been with the band
since 2008, making Kittie the most solid unit in years past.
Morgan’s clean vocals aren’t as present on
this release, first appearing briefly in track three,“Whisper of Death.”
On I’ve Failed You, she relies more on her pure screaming
aggression, which adds to the dark undertones of the album. The tracks
are mostly short and to the point, which keeps the adrenaline pumping on
I’ve Failed You.
There’s some slight doom, blues and ’70s
rock influences that rear its head on “What Have I Done.” “Empires (Part
I)” is the calm and “Part II” is the storm. The former’s acoustic
embellishments with blemishes of orchestral strings, adds to a
melancholic, spiraling decent of despair before the latter kicks into
some blistering aggressiveness.
A basic, formulaic approach to heavy, dark
songs with melodic interludes sums up what Kittie has done for the past
15 years. They aren’t bringing anything new to the table, but there’s
not many metal chicks out there that has more of a meaner growl than Ms.
Morgan, which makes her pretty distinguishable.
Although the songs on I’ve Failed You
aren’t very memorable and don’t leave a lasting impression, the
overall feeling is of a cohesive unit playing dark melodies with an
aggressive and ugly sound that hits you right in the gut.
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