After convincing myself the band was called It Dies Tonight I arrived to see IT DIES TODAY! This being the first time I’ve seen them so I arrived without much expectation. Although it’s fair to say I’ve never seen a Metalcore band that doesn’t rip it up live.

Running on stage vocalist Jason Wood and Co. exploded into their first track, with the pit starting seconds after it was beginning to look like KITTIE would have some work to outdo the New Yorkers.

Next song up ‘Thankyou for Drinking’ sounds like it could be a KORPIKLAANI song! At all times the songs are heavy and relentless in their composition and delivery, with Chris Cappelli and Mike Hatalak completing the human assault of Nick Mirusso rapid fire double kits. Unfortunately for me after a few tracks in it all starts to sound bit monotonous, sorry guys!

Thankfully before being mentally written off as yet another Metalcore band, they pull ‘Miss October’ out the bag (not literally). With attitude to spare, Jason and co. gel as a band with this song, it is technically light years ahead of the majority of the set with a guitar solo to make you willie twitch.

Back on the subject of things that make your willie twitch the lights drop for the lovely, if not a bit scary, ladies of KITTIE. Maybe someone should have checked if they were actually ready to go on stage first, after a bit of a damp squid of an entrance KITTIE got down to business opening with the brutal ‘My Plague’ of their latest album ‘In the Black’.

It seemed to take a bit of time for the crowd to get into or maybe it was shell shock! With the moshers spent from IT DIES TODAY their wasn’t a total lack of atmosphere, in between each song calls of “I Love You (Insert favorite KITTIE here)!” seemed to have the Canadian bunch a bit bemused, this was definitely not a hostile crowd!

With a taste of the new album, set staples ‘Never Again’ and ‘What I Always Wanted’ took the atmosphere up a noch. In comparison to the last time I saw them in 2008 bassist Ivy Vujic looks like she’s been in the band from the beginning, a tight performance all round.

It was a surprise that nothing from their debut album ‘Spit’ was played, even their most famous song ‘Brackish’ was left out of the set (again) which might have left anyone seeing them for the first time disappointed, but that is a small gripe in what was another fine performance.

Rating:

IT DIES TODAY 3.1/5.0

Review and Photography by Alex Shaw

(It Dies Today Photo’s)

(Kittie Photo’s)