Album Review: Spider Kitten – The Truth Is Caustic To Love
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
Having heard the first two singles, “The Dose” and “The Spoiler” released by Spider Kitten, I was keen to pick up this album to review. Both tracks really grabbed my attention, heavy punchy riffs that are full of fuzzed out desperation, but it was the vocal on “The Spoiler” that pulled me in, as it sent a shiver down my spine, with similarities to the legendary Layne Staley.
It’s not often these days that an album is fourteen songs long either, so I eagerly pressed play to delve a bit deeper into the minds of Chi Lameo, (vocals, guitars, piano, bass), Chris West (drums, bass, vocals, guitar) and Rob Davies (bass, guitars). There’s lots to love about Spider Kitten. They hail from my own homeland of South Wales, they are signed to Manchester’s wonderful APF Records, and they play heavy sludge/doom/prog noise, so what’s not to like?
More importantly, the music never stops moving. You get hit from all angles, with a series of body blows, before the head shots pile on top, and just as they offer to soothe your aches and pains, they pile in to finish you off. The opener “13 on 6” is a slow, brooding track, with a delicate mid-section, where you are in awe of the drum work. And then BOOM!!!! With the flamenco flair of “Sueno” sandwiched between the two previously mentioned singles, it delivers more diversity than you would usually find on this sort of album.
They don’t give you much chance to breath, as they unleash their own brand of darkened hell with the brilliant short instrumental “Fetishising Unhealthy Objects” and then the up and down madness of the western themed “Three Shots”. It’s this kind of variety to their music, which makes it so appealing to me, as the trio ride headlong into the despairing void that is “Revelation #1”. This is where the musicianship is very impressive, with an intricate and unique drum sound matched by the rudeness of the bass tone, that launches you into outer space when the riff comes along.
“Woe Betide” offers another side of the band, more emotive and melancholy, and you can sense that the lyrics from Lameo are, in his own words, “confessional” and “full of the kind of brutal honesty most people don’t have the guts to write”. It will pull at your heart strings but doesn’t prepare you for the rambunctious “Revelation #9”.
The sounds evolve over time, and you get more melodies and a bit of unusual spookiness coming through on “Febrile and Taciturn” with a twist at the end. Followed by a bit of a battering on the wonderfully titled “Gold Into Shit”, which is stalked by the harrowing, and somewhat evil sounding “Crying Towel”. The trio have demonstrated their full array of talents on this album and bring it a close with the nastiness of “Wretched Evergreen” and the eminently beautiful “Guilty”. It offers something for everyone, and hits that sweet spot each and every time.
