Written By Sabvatha Ashvale | Metal Lair
Some records are time capsules. Others sound as though they were recorded while someone was smashing the time capsule with a brick. Kittie’s Oracle belongs comfortably in the second category, and the band are reopening that particularly abrasive chapter for its twenty-fifth anniversary.
Oracle XXV arrives Friday, November 13, 2026, featuring new recordings of material from Kittie’s second studio album. A preview of the “Mouthful of Poison XXV” video has been made available through the band’s text-message promotion. It is an anniversary revisit, not a newly written follow-up to 2024’s Fire.
Revisiting a pivotal Kittie album
Originally released in November 2001 through Artemis Records, Oracle arrived after the band had already become a lightning rod for attention, expectation and the usual exhausting arguments about women playing heavy music. Recorded at EMAC Studios with producer Garth Richardson, the original album captured a leaner, punishing incarnation of Kittie following the departure of co-founder Fallon Bowman. Morgan Lander, Mercedes Lander and bassist Talena Atfield recorded as a trio, with Jeff Phillips later joining as a touring guitarist.
Oracle reached No. 57 on the Billboard 200. Those numbers are a historical footnote; its harsher sound and the confidence of the performances are the more interesting legacy. Re-recording an album like this can be tricky. Modern production might expose new muscle, or it could sand away precisely the rough edges that made the original bite. The verdict will belong to listeners once the recordings are out.
From Spit XXV to Oracle XXV
The project follows the band’s Spit XXV anniversary recordings in 2025 and their return with Fire in 2024. Metal Lair previously dug into Kittie’s early catalog in Deep Cuts: Metal’s Hidden Gems, featuring “Do You Think I’m a Whore” from Spit. Rather than pretending an old record never existed, Kittie are giving their present-day musicianship a conversation with the band they used to be.
Metal Lair has followed the broader story of heavy music’s women through A Rip in Time: Women in Metal. Kittie’s history belongs in that conversation, not as a novelty or a box to tick, but as part of the genre’s living evolution. Our Women in Metal series also revisits former Kittie bassist Jennifer Arroyo, whose career took her well beyond the band.
Whether Oracle XXV becomes a new favorite or sends fans straight back to their battered 2001 copies, the original album isn’t going anywhere. Nor should it.
For official release details, consult Kittie’s website.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sabbatha Ashvale is Metal Lair’s resident wildfire in eyeliner. A music journalist and storyteller who writes like she’s swinging a torch through the catacombs of heavy music. She’s equal parts historian and shit-stirrer.
Her work focuses on artistry, history, and the often overlooked creators who define metal’s evolving future. She brings depth, grit, and a razor sharp perspective to every piece she writes.
Read More From This Author. Dive Deeper With:
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