Source: Album Artwork
Frank Carter is officially back and even if you’ve followed him since Gallows, you’ve never seen him like this. After a tough 2014 Carter returns with Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes which could be considered a bit of a hardcore super group as he is joined by accompanied by his loyal bassist from their previous mob Pure Love, Thomas Mitchener, ex-Heights guitarist Dean Richardson and former Ghost Of A Thousand drummer Memby Jago.
‘Juggernaut’ carries a clear statement to previous band mates and all other naysayers that Frank Carter is back, saying “Even on my own, you can’t stop me. Even on my own, I am a Juggernaut” while ‘Trouble’ leads a more politically-charged rant before showing off his clean vocal talent on the self-reflective ‘Devil Inside Me’. If you’re familiar with the band’s Rotten EP from May, you will already know three of the album’s tracks but the hidden track on ‘Paradise’ gets its moment in the spotlight in the form of ‘Loss’. While stripped back and acoustic on the EP, it’s now brought to life and becomes the closest thing to Gallows as Carter opens up about everything he’s lost over the past year, with his heartbreak and torment obvious in his throat-destroying yells.
‘Beautiful Death’ is a welcome change of pace whilst having a split personality as it flips from singer/songwriter to incendiary hardcore before contemplating what death holds for us all on ‘Rotten Blossom’. To bring his latest creation to an end, he goes all out on the bluesy ‘I Hate You’, carrying the obvious message that someone has really pissed him off, with lyrics such as “I hate you and I wish you would die. It makes me violently angry when I see you alive.”
Blossom is one record that NEEDS to be turned up loud as Frank Carter takes you on a journey through his thoughts and turbulent emotions on his most autobiographical and insightful work to date. Rattlesnakes is an apt title for this project with the amount of venom contained in these 10 ten songs. It’s a raw, emotional, incensed and, above all, honest representation of Carter’s past and present while paving the way for what’s sure to be a remarkable future with his band of amphibians in tow.
