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Kittie, anchored by teenage sisters Morgan and Mercedes Lander, have wrapped up the final mixes for Oracle, their follow-up to their 1999 growling and hissing gold-selling debut Spit. The new album, recorded in their hometown of London, Ontario with producer Garth (GGGarth) Richardson and mixed in Vancouver, B.C. by Randy Staub, is due out October 30th on Artemis Records.
The eleven-song Oracle was made without guitarist Fallon Bowman, who left mysteriously earlier this year. While the band remains tightlipped about Bowman's departure, according to a report by radio personality Mistress Carrie of Boston's WAAF, Bowman had been indulging in what the rock jock described as "cult" behavior, including an obsession with the Columbine murders.
"I think even the rest of the band found it very disturbing," notes Carrie, adding that Kittie's label did not deny the report. Sources close to Kittie have also confirmed the story.
The group's handlers are quick to point out that whatever the reason, Bowman's absence does not matter. Morgan, notes father Dave Lander, wrote the bulk of the songs and played all the guitar parts on both albums. Younger sister Mercedes mans the drums, while Talena Atfield -- who replaced Tanya Candler after the band recorded Spit -- supplies the bass.
And there's no doubt that nineteen-year-old Morgan is firmly in charge. The even-keeled singer trumpets the virtues of her band's new album with unabashed confidence. Indeed, the album impresses on a brief run-through and shows a little ear-catching diversity in addition to its heavy metal/goth/glam hybrid, heavy enough to match the likes of Slayer.
One left-turn is a cover of Pink Floyd's "Run Like Hell," a leftover from a cancelled tribute album, with rich background vocals and a fuller production. "We've been playing the song as long as we've been touring," says Lander. "We were looking at only thirty-something minutes of material on Oracle, so we stuck it in there. It's gone over really well."
Another diversion is "Safe," a haunting song with a piano track, also supplied by Morgan. "It shows we're capable of doing so many different things," she says.
Morgan says that "Pain," the first song written for the new album -- last November just after the band wrapped up the Ozzfest 2000 tour -- wasn't all that painful. "All of a sudden things changed," she says. "We were a lot better at what we were doing. We were aware of what was going on with the music and with the industry. We were more of a formidable unit."
There were moments of uncertainty, however, a thought reflected in "What I Always Wanted," a song about "being stuck." "You're doing a second album and you feel like the world is on your shoulders," Morgan says. "To write a song is what you always wanted. It's about the pressure of this industry."
"Mouthful of Poison," the second song written for the project, deals with people misconstruing the band's lyrics. "It's about people spreading untruths, our reaction and having to deal with that," Morgan says. There's also "No Name," a last-minute ditty completed as the singer was about to go into the booth for the final vocal session, too rushed to get a proper moniker.
The album's artwork, also conceived and designed by Morgan, appears to be an x-ray of a mason jar in a stomach, an image inspired by a piece in Discover magazine. "It had something about people swallowing weird things," she says, "and a guy who stuck a mason jar up his ass. I thought that was really, really interesting, and I started visualizing what it looks like."
The band is currently in Japan for the giant Beast Fest with dozens of other metal bands. From there they head to Australia for three dates, then play a few shows in Europe before heading back for some scattered dates in the U.S. and Canada.
Replacing Bowman on stage is the group's guitar tech, Jeff Phillips.
SORELLE SAIDMAN
(August 28, 2001)