Kittie - In the Black

Don't you just love it when a band grows up with you? When they played the same trendy shit that you listened to as a kid and then as an adult they mature? Yes, they did start out as a nu metal band but by Until the End they developed into a metalcore band and finally evolved into a melodic black metal group with a heavy Rotting Christ influence by Funeral for Yesterday. Sadly other nu metla bands like Slipknot and Otep are still creatively stagnant despite the rest of the scene

In the Black sees Kittie grow heavier after their last album and more death than black, but is still similar enough to the previous album that they should keep the same fans that they won over and continue to alienate the fans that they lost back in 2007. In the Black is mercifully shorter that FFY was but still feels like it runs on for a bit too long. Then there are the pacing issues with a much heavier first half and a more melodic second. Both of these issues negatively affect an otherwise really good album but thankfully not enough for it to not be enjoyable.

And I've realized that female guitarists don't get enough credit. Tara McLeod is fantastic on ItB. She proves that she can hold her own in a world with very few female metal lead guitarists. She may not have the most flashy style but her leads are always tasteful and fit the music perfectly.

ItB is heavy, melodic, and the latest step in Kittie's evolution. They almost had something great here if not for problems that could have been solved in post-production. It's good, but given that this month also has some other big names dropping albums (Megadeth and Immortal being the two most obvious), ItB finds Kittie unfortunately being the leftovers of the metal genre once again.

7/10