Kittie - Origins/Evolutions

Two decades after forming in London, Ontario, Kittie marked the milestone with Origins/Evolutions, and this LP carries the music from that celebration, with a download card included.

The project began as a documentary, crowdfunded by fans who smashed the goal within hours and directed by Rob McCallum. It follows the band from the late-1990s rise of Spit, when sisters Morgan and Mercedes Lander were still teenagers, through lineup changes, label battles and the loss of bassist Trish Doan in 2017. The film premiered in the band's hometown that autumn, and Kittie marked the night with a career-spanning set that brought former members back into the fold.

The music captures Kittie onstage, doing what they always did best. Expect grinding, down-tuned riffs, Morgan Lander's switch from guttural roar to clean, haunting melody, and Mercedes driving everything from behind the kit with relentless force. Songs from across their catalogue get a fresh charge from a hometown crowd that had followed them from the very beginning.

For fans who grew up on the angriest corners of late-1990s metal, it is a document of survival as much as a concert recording. Here is a band that refused to be treated as a novelty, still sounding fierce and fully in command twenty years on, and still very much worth turning up loud.