What the hell is a spider kitten? And if you saw one, would you try to pick it up or run in abject horror? Sonically, SPIDER KITTEN, the band, elicits the same response. ‘Just what the hell is this that I’m listening to.’ In most music spheres this would be bad. Nothing worse than shattering the expectations of your small-minded fans. But in the realm of extreme metal, well, the more unexpected, the more unbridled, the better. In this world the ‘wtf did I just hear reaction’ is often the best.

With that said, the ever-defiant SPIDER KITTEN release their 22^nd album, The Truth is Caustic to Love, on June 27, 2025 via APF Records. That’s right 22 not counting splits and live albums, but I may have miscounted. It may be more accurate to say a shit-ton, or alternatively, a fuck-ton. Your choice.

I ran into some promo material that describes the band better than I ever could do. Here it is: “It’s the kind of sound that keeps you awake at night, gnawing at your insides, like some nightmare you can’t wake up from. There’s something beautiful in it, if you’re sick enough to hear it. And when they hit that sweet spot between noise and melody, between rage and release, you’re there. With them. Whether you want to be or not.”

SPIDER KITTEN is like Thomas Ligotti put to music. Don’t get that reference? Go look him up and come back here after you’ve read one or two of his books and see if you don’t agree with.

But the album. The basics: 14 tracks, 38 minutes. Musically it’s Doom-laden, psych-infused, avant-garde, bizarre extreme metal. Lyrically, it’s nothing nice but everything all too real. Dark and bluesy, it bleeds disdain and pain. My favorite tracks are “Three Shots,” a western vibe track that drips Sergio Leone; “Fetishising Unhealthy Objects” . . . I’ll just say if you get this song then there’s probably something wrong with you and that’s okay because at least here’s someone singing about it and now you can relate and get it out of your system; and “Wretched Evergreen” which is just a tough, mean track that bristles with discord and disharmony.

Like its namesake, SPIDER KITTEN is a hard band to get into and a hard band to walk away from. They are bluesy and deep and dark and disturbing, which is how most of us are on the inside—soft cuddly kittens with eight legs and too many eyes and intractable fangs that inject venom. SPIDER KITTEN, The Truth is Caustic to Love. Try it on.