Kittie – led as ever by the Lander sisters, frontwoman Morgan and drummer Mercedes – were probably unfairly pigeonholed in their supposed heyday. While it’s almost certainly the renewed interest in nu-metal, explored by everyone from BMTH to Poppy, that has led to Sumerian snapping the band up, it’d be wrong to expect them to simply play ball. The core of this album is straight, relentless metal, sometimes melodic but mostly powering through with sinew and vim. The title-track and Grime find Morgan at her most aggressive, all throaty, guttural vocals over the headlong charge of her sister’s drums. Closer Eyes Wide Open, meanwhile, is a neat amalgam, veering from darkness to light.
While it’s not an album that’s doing anything new or shocking, Fire does put Kittie back on the metal map, and reminds us that there’s more to them than they first got credit for.
Verdict: 3/5
For fans of: Pantera, While She Sleeps, Halestorm
Fire is released by Sumerian on June 21