In the Black [Vinyl]

Kittie | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (September 15, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Koch Records
• ASIN: B002MT3D4C
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #515,686 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

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

Editorial Reviews

From the Artist

"We wanted this to be a behemoth of an album, a real beast," says Kittie front woman Morgan Lander of In The Black, the fifth studio album of her band's decade-long career as metal's reigning femme fatales. The band delivered true on their promise, creating a 12-track behemoth of unapologetic metal splendor, forging bone-crushing music and penetrating vocals into a snarling beast of blunt force trauma. And better yet, they did it without any drama. Tara McLeod, Kittie's acclaimed guitarist returns with a prodigious second studio effort. "Tara comes from a different school of music, she's more influenced by blues and jazz, and as we evolve as a band we definitely play off of each other," Morgan says of her fellow guitarist. "They complement each other really well," adds Mercedes, the band's drummer, "and it was really nice to have someone be able to come to practice with a solo for a song or a cool riff. It was nice to have a third party offering suggestions." Also familiar to fans is bassist Ivy Vujic, who has been in the band for two years, making this the most dynamic and engaging lineup in Kittie's history. And their chemistry shows!"It's the most focused piece of music we've ever put out, and it was the most focused process," says Mercedes of the new release. "We just did whatever we wanted to do and wrote whatever we wanted to write." Adds Morgan, "We set out to make this album the complete antithesis of what our last album was, and to do things as differently as possible in terms of writing, recording and song structure. We felt very boxed-in production-wise on the last album, and we were determined to make an album where we could feel free, liberated, and left to our own devices." "I wanted to try and do something different vocally, not the same screaming and singing," says Morgan. "I challenged myself to find a new voice for this album, and there are a couple of songs where I really think I have it. I wanted to dig deeper to make the sound more raw and real, more in your face. In the case of `Die My Darling,' it was sassy and it needed that nasty spin on things." Mission accomplished."I feel like a lot of bands don't take the cues from their elders, and they're just ripping each other off," says Mercedes of today's metal scene. "We grew up in a house with late-`70s classic rock and early metal, and as we get older our influences are starting to come into our songwriting more. We just don't want to sound like anybody else that's out right now." "The classic metal feel is something that we've grown into," continues Morgan. "As we get older and become better musicians, it's necessary to go back in time and appreciate an older style and the fledgling form of the music you're playing. The `70s and `80s were a magical time in metal and those guys were amazing players. We totally respect it, so why not pay homage if you can pull it off?" Pull it off they do, "Kingdom Come" kicking the album off in an instrumental fashion that would do Metallica proud and "My Plague" following in true "For Whom The Bell Tolls" fashion, "Ready Aim Riot" packing a guitar swoon similar in style to seminal to the thrash of early Anthrax, and classic rock even getting a nod on "Whisky Love Song," which might emblaze an educated listeners with a vision of Thin Lizzy on speed and steroids. The album is equal parts Kittie's past and equal parts Kittie's future. "For us to move forward," explains Morgan, "we've done a lot of looking back with music, and we wear our influences on our sleeves - Metallica, Death, Carcass, and even classic bands like Thin Lizzy, who Mercedes listens to a lot.

"This album speaks for itself - our musicianship is better, we're more self-assured and comfortable, and we just did what we do with no boundaries and no limitations. We appreciate that people know us from our first album and we respect our history, but we want people to respect and understand what we're doing now and appreciate Kittie for the evolutionary step that we've taken. What we do is both intriguing and frightening at the same time - I think that's why we've been able to keep at it for as long as we have, and why we'll continue to do it for a very long time." --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Description

With total domestic sales in excess of 1.25 million, Kittie also approached the recording of In the Black as complete free agents, for their first time ever, writing and recording a record with absolutely no outside influences breathing down their necks. The results will make your skin crawl and the hair on the back of your neck stand at attention. In other words, the album is Kittie in all their unadulterated splendor, a colossal effort that combines everything fans have come to expect from the fearsome foursome, along with a few surprises. "My Plague" is the album's primal mating call, a sinister brood of Morgan's sadistic vocal dirges and growls, a swirling grind of guitars and an artillery spray of drum cover. "Forgive And Forget" is just as brutal, but laced by a melodic underbelly as soft as the song's guitar solos are scorching, and "Die My Darling" trades the death mask vocals for a melodic pitch and resonating gang vocal on the chorus. It's as filthy as anything Kittie have ever recorded before, but twice as inviting. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New And Improved, September 15, 2009

By 

B. "HollowHills" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In the Black (Audio CD)

Kittie's 5th album will be leaving you asking for more. Forgive and Forget might be my favorite track tied with Sleepwalking (Amazing lyrics), Whiskey Love Song (More amazing lyrics), and The Truth (Way to end an album, wow). You can totally hear Tara's influence with kick a** solos and lead work, but you certainly can tell its a Kittie album. Morgan's vocals are as confident as ever, man can she scream, but then in a moment sing beautifully. The production is so much better than the last album which was a little too clean. An interesting note for all of you who loved Oracle the producer of this album was an engineer on Oracle. Sorrow I Know vocally left me dropping my jaw. A very, very proud day to be a fan. Old fans and new will appreciate what Kittie has turned into - a BEAST.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oracle meets Funerial, September 24, 2009

By 

eddie baggett - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In the Black (Audio CD)

Heres a song by song review of this pretty darn good album. But over all Morgan uses her normal voice and her growling voice much like Funerial For Yesterday. But she growls abit more on this. The mix of the album sounds great, no over production or computer effects. And it sounds like the band could be playing live in front of you. If you can imagine Oracle and Funerial together as one album then you get a good idea of how this sounds. Hard n Heavy of Oracle with the more mass appeal of Funerial. There is not one bad song on this album and can easliy be played track 1-12. For my Money this line up is very tight sounding nd I hope it stays together. Also some DAMN SEXY WOMEN.
1.Is a instrumential intro for the album. Duel guitars with a few bass lines played in.
2.So far the best known song from this album. Many live exsamples of this song is on youtube in which they play track 1 into it just like on this album. Mixture of Morgan's normal voice and her growling.
3.Driven paced, heavy hitting song. A headbanger which is kinda neat to play on your car sterio loud and drive fast. Kinda Breathe meets Look So Pretty. Check youtube for music video.
4.The same song Metallica covered on Garage INC. With Mercades
on some backing vocals.
5.Also has live exsamples on youtube. A more mild song with great drumming by Mercades. Morgon sings very good with her normal voice. Maybe her best exsample of it. Only thing missing is a guitar solo which I think would have fit in great.
6.Fast paced headbanger with the sisters doing some great duel growling on the verses. Morgan uses her normal voice great in this song on the chorses. Awesome guitar solo by Tara. Also a good car jaming song. Check youtube for this one too
7.No, not a cover of the Elvis song. Great interplay with Mercades and Ivy. No growl singing. Another awesome guitar solo by Tara. I dont know if she is a fan of Tony Iommi but i can hear a little of his style throuout the song. This could have easily been the single from this album. Upbeat and radio friendly but still a headbanger.
8.Another good exsample of Morgan's normal voice. Tara's guitar solo is good but they could have played it a little longer. Short song too which apon first hearing it I thought it was a filler. But the 2nd time I listened to it it became a better song to me.
9.Great guitar intro by Tara. If played on a keyboard it would have made a great 80's B horrer movie soundtrack. 2nd best exsample of Morgan's normal voice but her best lyric wise of this whole album.
10.Check youtube for this one too. Great duel guitar playing by Tara and Morgan. Ivy fits in there perfect with her bass lines. Headbanger with a bit of Iommi & Geezer Butler. 2 Damn good Tara solos. I think this could have been an awesome instrumential. Not that Morgan singing takes anything away from this song. Just it would be great either way.
11.Remindes me alot of Metallica - Seek and Destroy. Ad upbeat headbanger. With explosive Tara solos thats a good kick in the face. Could be a fight or sports song. Another car jammer.
12. AWESOME organ intro then the band explodes out of the speakers. Another bit of Iommi in Tara. Another of the sisters growling duel in the middle of the song. I think this could have been an awesome instrumential. Not that Morgan singing takes anything away from this song. Just it would be great either way. At the end there is one of those tunes like a toy box would play which fits in very good. A great way to end the album. Cant wait for album 6 in 2-3 years from now.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Their Best Since Oracle!, September 23, 2009

By 

bridget "optimism isn't my strongest feature" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Black (Audio CD)

Heavier album than previous outputs. Lyrics are a bit cliched, but they aren't really known as accomplished lyricists. "Cut Throat" is definitely the highlight of the album.Progressing quite nicely over the years. Good Job, Kittie!