In the Black is the fifth studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Kittie, released on September 15, 2009, through E1 Music. It was the band's first album with bassist Ivy Jenkins, who joined the band in 2007. Recording sessions for the album were held with producer Siegfried Meier at Beach Road Studios in Goderich, Ontario, in November and December 2008. Featuring a raw, stripped-down sound and elements of black metal, metalcore and melodic death metal, Kittie intended the album to be an "antithesis" to their previous album Funeral for Yesterday (2007), having been disappointed with its production and style.
In the Black received generally favourable reviews from critics and debuted at number 133 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 3,400 copies in its first week. Kittie toured in support of the album from September 2009 to September 2010, performing in North America and Europe. The band also joined the 2010 Thrash and Burn Tour and embarked on supporting tours with Insane Clown Posse and DevilDriver.
Music, writing and recording
In the Black has been described as groove metal,[1][2]heavy metal[3][4] and thrash metal.[5] The album features elements of black metal, metalcore, and melodic death metal,[1][6] and mixes clean singing with black metal and death metal-inspired growls and screamed vocals.[3][7] Vocalist and guitarist Morgan Lander said that Kittie intended the album to be an "antithesis" to their previous album Funeral for Yesterday (2007), whose production and style they were disappointed with.[8][9][10] In a 2010 interview with Chart Attack, Morgan said that Kittie intended to make In the Black a faster, rawer and "much more outlandish" album compared to its predecessor, whilst "[capturing] what we're all about in the live setting."[11] The album was Kittie's first with bassist Ivana "Ivy" Jenkins, who joined the band in 2007 following the departure of Trish Doan.[12][13][14] Kittie knew of Jenkins as she was supposed to have auditioned for the band in 2005,[15] but was unable to due to her car totaling.[16]
Kittie began "sketching out ideas" for In the Black whilst on tour in the summer and fall of 2008.[13] In July, the band played two new songs, "My Plague" and "Sorrow I Know", in Fayetteville, North Carolina.[17] Morgan and Mercedes described the songwriting process for In the Black as more collaborative than that of Funeral for Yesterday;[18][19][20] both members wrote most of the album's material together before seeking McLeod's input,[18][21] with Jenkins contributed basslines at the end of writing.[20] Mercedes credited McLeod and Jenkins for making the album sound "multi-dimensional and complete";[19] McLeod said she "realised her value in [Kittie]" when the band began using her riffs and guitar parts.[22] The band had finished writing the album by August 2008,[20] although according to Morgan, their songs were "just fragments and ideas until we were able to really put our heads together" at the end of the year,[13][23] after being released from their contract with their previous record label.[13] According to Noisecreep, "Some of the [album's] anger came from the band disentangling from a label 'partnership' which generated their own imprint."[8]
Without the backing of a record label, Kittie recorded In the Black in three weeks between November and December 2008 with producer Siegfried Meier, at his newly constructed Beach Road Studios in Goderich, Ontario.[16] Kittie had first worked with Meier on their second album Oracle (2001), where he was credited as an assistant engineer.[16][23][18] For the album, Meier bought a Studer A827 tape machine, which was used to record its vocals, guitars and bass parts; Mercedes Lander's drums were recorded digitally.[24] Meier said that the band wanted to avoid having too many vocal harmonies and "glisteny, polished, airy things" on the album.[25] According to Mercedes, Morgan recorded two takes for her vocals, selected the best one, "and that was it. [Meier] didn't fuck with the vocals".[18][26] She considered its recording to be closest to their debut album Spit (1999), in that Kittie "got to do exactly what we wanted, how we wanted it",[27] and praised Meier's production, saying that he was "the first producer [Kittie have] worked with that knows metal and knows what we want to sound like. ... [In the Black] is the first album that we've recorded that I'm totally happy with."[18]
Title and artwork
The album's title is a play on the financial term "in the red".[28] Mercedes said that being In the Black "doesn't mean you're clear of all your problems, but you're on your way to doing better. That's kind of how we [Kittie] feel right now [...] we're on our way towards making a full recovery."[28] The album was Kittie's first since Spit to feature its members on the cover.[27] The band dedicated the album to David Lander,[26] the band's manager and Morgan and Mercedes's father, who died in August 2008.[20]
Release
Promotion
On June 26, 2009, Kittie announced that they had signed a three-album record deal with E1 Music.[29] The band chose to sign with the label as they had previously worked with a number of its personnel in the past,[30] including its vice president of Metal, Scott Givens, whom they had known for over 10 years.[28] On July 18, 2009, the band revealed the track listing for In the Black;[31] four days later, they uploaded "My Plague" to their MySpace page.[32] "Cut Throat" and "Sorrow I Know" were also released as singles on July 31 and August 17, 2009, respectively.[33][34] The former debuted on Sirius XM's Liquid Metal station on August 31, 2009.[35]
In July 2009, Kittie worked with director David Brodsky on two music videos, for "Cut Throat" and "Sorrow I Know".[30][31][36] The former, released on September 3, 2009, features the band performing the song inside an abandoned department store in Brooklyn.[36] The "Sorrow I Know" video was filmed at the Backroom in New York City on July 26, 2009.[37] The band invited its fans to participate in the video shoot, which featured a 1920s/1930sspeakeasy theme.[30][37][38] The video premiered on Noisecreep on January 14, 2010.[39] An "uncut" version was released on February 8, 2010.[40] On May 4, 2010, Kittie filmed a music video for "Die My Darling" with director John Barber, which was subsequently released on June 7, 2010.[41][42] Morgan and Mercedes initially planned the video as a spoof of the Quentin Tarantino film Death Proof (2007), and it "just turned into its own kind of thing".[43]
In the Black was released in the United States through E1 Music on September 15, 2009, and in Europe through Massacre Records on October 23, 2009.[44][45] It was released as a CD and on vinyl, the latter in limited quantities.[46] The album debuted at number 133 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 3,400 copies in its first week.[44][47] The album also reached number 18 on the BillboardTop Hard Rock Albums chart and number 23 on the BillboardTop Independent Albums chart.[47]
Touring
Kittie performing at the Opera House in Toronto in March 2010
On August 1, 2009, Kittie played at the Altered Skin Revolution festival in Saginaw, Michigan, where they performed "Cut Throat" live for the first time.[48] From September 27 to October 29, 2009, the band embarked on a headlining tour of the United States supported by Soil, Red Line Stitch and Arkaea.[49][50][51] In January 2010, the band toured Europe with It Dies Today and Malefice. Forever Never and Magnacult provided additional support on select dates.[52] In March 2010, they embarked on a co-headling tour of North America with God Forbid.[53]Periphery and Gwen Stacy opened for both bands from March 3 to 11 and March 14 to 21, 2010, respectively.[53]
From May 10 to June 8, 2010, Kittie embarked on their first supporting tour since 2000,[20] for Insane Clown Posse on their Happy Daze tour.[54][55] In a 2010 interview with Noisecreep, Morgan said that the tour was one of the last things David Lander organized for Kittie prior to his death, and that Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope had previously invited the band to join their tours but had turned them down.[55] Although Kittie considered themselves an outlier as they were "the only band who played instruments",[43] the tour went "unbelievably well" for the band, according to Morgan.[56] According to Mercedes, the band managed to sell "a box of CDs per night" of the tour.[57]
In the Black received generally favourable reviews from critics.Blabbermouth.net applauded the album's "ferocious conviction" and considered it to be "the biggest metal shock of 2009".[62] Similarly, Rock Hard's Marcus Schleutermann stated that the album's songs and arrangements are "more convincing than ever", and that In the Black is "undoubtedly [their] best album."[63] Denise Falzon of Exclaim! was surprised by the quality of the album's sound and songwriting.[66]Ultimate Guitar noted Kittie's stronger instrumentation and chemistry on the album, and stated that it "could very well be the Canadian quartet's best effort".[65] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff praised the album's grooves and variety, comparing it favourably to Sinergy.[1]
Some critics were more reserved in their praise. James Christopher Monger of AllMusic stated that In the Black only "fortifies what [Kittie have] been standing on for the last decade".[3] Jan Wischkowski of Metal.de felt that the album lacked any standout tracks.[4] Michael Edele of laut.de felt the album's guitar solos were "sloppily or just cheaply [played]".[5]The A.V. Club's Leonard Pierce and Time Off's Kenada Quinlan both highlighted the album's improved musicianship but criticized Morgan's vocals.[64][7]
In a 2020 RedditAMA on the r/numetal subreddit, Morgan and Mercedes both named In the Black as the Kittie album they are most proud of.[67]
^"CD Review: Kitte - I've Failed You". September 8, 2011. Archived from the original on May 13, 2024. Retrieved February 9, 2024. Like 'In The Black', Kittie keep things heavy and continue to show their groove metal evolution
^ abcdMonger, James Christophe. "Kittie: In the Black". Allmusic. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
^Dellabeneta, Junior (February 12, 2008). "Kittie em São Bernardo do Campo". Agenda Metal (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
^Lestat (December 8, 2009). "Interview Kittie". bleeding4metal.de (in German). Archived from the original on May 13, 2024. Retrieved May 13, 2024. Ivy ist eigentlich schon 2007 beigetreten, als wir unsere erste Südamerikatour gemacht haben. [Ivy actually joined in 2007 when we did our first South American tour.]
^ abNight, Nataly (December 18, 2009). "Kittie - December 2009". Reflections of Darkness. Archived from the original on May 2, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
^ abFred, Seigneur (Winter 2009). "Kittie: Black is Beautiful". Metal Obs' (in French). H.I.M Media. p. 26. Retrieved July 19, 2024 – via noise-web.com.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ abSchleutermann, Marcus (October 21, 2009). "In The Black". Rock Hard (Vol. 270) (in German). Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.(subscription required)
