Album Reviews : Kittie – I’ve Failed You

After a two year hiatus, Kittie are back with their own brand of all female alternative metal; but with a difference.  In their own words I’ve Failed You redefines “the scope of their heavy metal vision. They forge extreme anger with extreme vulnerability, splatter innocence with a foreboding doom, and bleed beauty and ugliness into a swirling aural mask.” In my words, this is a classic clichéd teenage break up album of anger and heartbreak and not innocence and doom.

I was not transformed by the title track and felt it did not deliver me to a higher emotional plain. The first single ‘We are the Lamb’ is musically tight and suits Kittie’s audiences but the content is very mainstream, political and lacks difference. As the album progresses the content doesn’t really change but the composition does. Morgan Lander’s raw voice is contrast with the more choral elements of her and her sister’s (Mercedes’) harmonies in songs like ‘Already Dead’ and ‘Ugly’. It is the latter half of this album that shows diversity in their musicianship; ‘Empires’ stands out to me as one of those songs. Part one takes you on an acoustic journey and Part two brings you back to earth with an almighty thump. It was these tracks that possessed their own style but also reflected their roots that were more appealing and different to those written with audiences specifically in mind.

Overall this new album for the Canadian quartet is not distinctly different from their previous compositions but provides audiences with the sounds that they have become accustomed to.

Band: Kittie
Album: I’ve Failed You
Year: 2011
Genre: Alternative metal
Origin: Canada
Label: Shock
http://www.kittierocks.com/

Track listing:
1. I’ve Failed You
2. We Are The Lamb
3. Whisper of Death
4. What Have I Done
5. Empires
6. Come Undone
7. Already Dead
8. Never Come Home
9. Ugly
10. Time Never Heals