.com On Spit, Kittie's 1999 debut, the just-out-of-high-school all-female quartet were an anomaly, giving the male-dominated metal scene a run for its money thanks to the Canadian lineup's near death-metal heaviness. On sophomore outing Oracle, minus original guitarist Fallon Bowman, Kittie rock harder than ever, yet lack the memorable songs required from a band of any gender or genre. In songs like "Mouthful of Poison," Morgan Lander's often ethereal, decidedly feminine vocals contrast with bassist Talena Atfield's death-metal growls. That, along with ferocious double-bass drums and extreme aggression, are the band's hallmarks, broken up by a Kittie-ized cover of Pink Floyd's "Run Like Hell" and "Safe," a spare, spooky and excellent departure in a sea of heavy sameness. Ultimately, Oracle's most redeeming quality is that of a role model for frustrated teenage girls, proving that, indeed, women are allowed to vent their rage and compete with men on the same playing field. --Katherine Turman
M**D
Kittie's best - A relentless Death Metal album
Kittie has outdone themselves many times over with this masterpiece. I discovered them a few years ago with Spit. I thought it was great. Charlotte was the very first Kittie song I listened to and loved it, and so I bought the album.Later, I stumbled onto Oracle, and utterly blown away. This wasn't the hard metal I heard on Sput. This was pure death metal, plain and simple. I had to buy the album, and once I did, I was in love. This is by far the heaviest album by them, and one of the best death metal albums ever. It has a great balance of gutteral growling and singing, but make no mistake; this is a brutal onslaught of music that'll crush you. I can't really pick one true favorite, because I just love this album too much.1. Oracle - A fantastic thrashy opener with Morgan Lander's black metal shrieks leading.2. Mouth of Poison - One of the best songs on the album. I love the intro and then the tone change during the end where it gets even heavier. "I can't hear you scream, drowning so it seems." A cruel song with cruel lyrics.3. In Winter - What a beautiful song. A perfect mix of melody and brutality.4. Severed - Another great death metal opening with great bass and drums with, again dark lyrics.5. Run Like Hell - It seems almost all the songs have amazing intros. This is a fantastic cover, one I put on repeat and over and over, and that solo is a killer.6. Pain - This is really great thrashy track, a darker sounding one7. Wolves - I think this is the best song on the album. Fansatic olening, cruel vocals and guitar playing, brutal drums. Pitch perfect.8. What I Always Wanted - The first single, and it's amazing. I love Mercedes's double kick playing. Truly fantastic clean vocals and growling by Morgan.9. Safe - A gothic piano interlude with haunting vocals by the talented Morgan Lander. Her piano playing skills also shine as well.10. No Name - The most epic brutal intro I've heard with an inhuman shriek. Great for head banging.11. Pink Lemonade - A stunningly beautiful track. It's long, slow, and takes a bit to get going, but it's totally haunting.Ignore the critics, they don't know what they're talking about. They claim it to be repetitive or too heavy. Ha! This album is not of repetitive. Never one was I bored or wished a single change on any instrument. This is by far Kittie's best, with I've Failed You close behind.In fact, they're better than almost all the genetic male bands out there. They rock harder than your average band. Get this album!
S**W
Very different from their debut but extremely good
My first Kittie album was "Spit"; I got it after hearing "Brackish" and loving it. I love the album "Spit". On "Oracle", the band turns away from the commercial aspect of things and is extremely heavy and at times experimental. For the most part, it works really well.Morgan Lander (lead singer) screams/growls with great intensity, trying to prove that a girl can be up there with people like Phil Anselmo and Max Cavalera. She succeeds and in turn, the tone of this album is much heavier. She sings much less on this (a little for the first 5 tracks) and then she sings primarily from 9 to 11. The guitar riffs are smart and intricate and the riffs are pounding. The band truly earned themselves a place in metal with this album. Their cover of Pink Floyd's "Run Like Hell" is amazing. The song structures are based in hardcore metal for the most part but songs 9-11 venture into structures that are somewhat-experimental. The last song, "Pink Lemonade", is a sludging metal song with melodic vocals that are like a combination of Black Sabbath, Alice in Chains, and Nirvana (it lasts for about 10 minutes).Probably the main reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is that I thought that "Pink Lemonade" dragged too long and could've been shortened but it was refreshing to see Kittie experiment to that length. I would've given this 4.5 stars if that were an option.If you like Kittie, pick this up for sure but don't expect the sound on "Spit" and keep your mind open.If you like metal in general, listen to some song previews on here and I'm sure you'll like some of the songs.I think this is a great album with minor flaws, so I say it's a good buy.
)**I
Dare I Say "Greatest Female Metal Album" ?
I'll make this short and sweet...I will admit that it took some getting used to but Oracle has some great songs that at first are easily overlooked such as Mouthful of Poison, Pain and Pink Lemonade. However ones that immediately caught my attention were In Winter, Run Like Hell, What I've Always Wanted and Safe. If you were to sample any Kittie album this should be the one. It's extremely melodious but not without being tremendously ferocious. -And if you do enjoy this I would highly recommend you listen to Otep's "Sevas Tra" album. I was very skeptical when someone recommended Otep to me using Kittie as a basis of interest but I checked into them anyway and I am so glad I did.
A**I
Best Kittie Album, maybe one of the greatest Albums ever
Recent Kittie fan here blown away by what I'm hearing. I'm a child of the 80's and 90's so I missed out on the Nu-Metal trend as I've been focusing on raising a family and progressing my career. Thanks to Youtube and Myspace I've come across some new stuff particularily Kittie and Otep. As a guy who always believed Nirvana was the last great rock group, I'm pleasantly surprised to say there's still some innovation in the hard rock genre, and Kittie has contributed quite nicely. I never thought I could listen to guttural style singing, but the way Morgan combines it with her very feminine melodic voice, I've become quite fond of it. Listening to her range on "What I always Wanted" actually makes my hair stand up on end. I'm also enjoying the lyrics, and can honestly say if I had a daughter, I'd hope she'd listen to this stuff as opposed to what most teenage girls are listening to today aka Avril and Brittany. My hope is to someday see a death match betwen Avril Lavigne and Mercedes Landers.
A**R
Five Stars
great album
B**Y
Five Stars
Great album!
B**Z
Five Stars
Love it
M**Y
Five Stars
Great experience.
T**N
un groupe qui progesse
Si le premier album était un peu plat, fortement influencé par la scène néo (beurk), celui-ci se veut plus metal, avec un chant plus proche du death que de la jeune adolescente en pleine crise, et des parties de guitare plus agressives et techniques.En effet la jeune Morgan Lander (19 ans) a nettement progressé en tant que chanteuse et musicienne (jouant toutes les guitares, le piano et une partie des basses). Sa soeur Mercedes (17 ans) est loin d'être ridicule elle aussi, montrant une belle maîtrise de la double pédale.Qui plus est, l'album est varié, alternant ballades et metal, et l'on ne s'ennuie pas même si le tout finit par faire un peu mal au crane (mais n'est-ce pas ce que l'on recherche ?)
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