Upcoming Releases
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes have announced the release of their third album, End Of Suffering, on May 3 via International Death Cult.
Recorded in just six months over the heatwave that engulfed London last year, End Of Suffering - named after the Buddhist term for enlightenment - is the sound of a band entering an entirely new realm of the senses, a 40-minute rock'n'rollercoaster of molten-hot bangers, scorched-soul ballads and grunge lullabies laced through with a lacerating lyrical honesty.
With Cam Blackwood (George Ezra/Jack Savoretti) at the helm and legendary mixer Alan Moulder (Nine Inch Nails/Queens Of The Stone Age) sprinkling sonic stardust, the resultant album sees Carter, co-songwriter and guitar player Dean Richardson and co. not so much spreading their wings as running and leaping headfirst into heretofore uncharted waters. Opener "Why A Butterfly Can't Love A Spider" finds Frank at full stretch, singing: "When I'm high I'm in heaven/When I'm low I'm in hell," while the first single "Crowbar" is tauter than a highwire and relentlessly sharpened to a razor's edge, a sonic Molotov cocktail of a track delivered with the anarchic zel of the gilets-jaunes rioters. "I saw an amazing bit of graffiti during the Paris riots which said: 'We've cut off heads for less than this," enthuses Frank. "I loved that attitude. People are sick of being force fed doom and gloom." It also comes complete with a video directed by longtime collaborator Ross Cairns (Biffy Clyro/Queens Of The Stone Age) and acts as a blistering clarion call to arms.
When the fury is dialed down, however, even more startling shades start to surface. "Anxiety" is a paranoiac festival anthem in waiting, while "Love Games" is an absolute beauty; a distortion-heavy nod to Amy Winehouse's finest moments. "Angel Wings" is as bleakly poetic as Charles Bukowski.
The album also features Tom Morello as a guest guitarist on "Tyrant Lizard King." The two re-connected after many years at Resurrection Festival in Spain last summer, where Frank infamously sang the Rage classic "Killing In The Name" to a 40,000 strong crowd.
Indeed. In an age of say-nothing pop and codified corporate rock, End Of Suffering does what all great music should: lift the spirits and stir the soul.
Track listing:
- Why a Butterfly Can't Love a Spider
- Tyrant Lizard King feat. Tom Morello
- Heartbreaker
- Crowbar
- Love Games
- Anxiety
- Angel Wings
- Supervillain
- Latex Dreams
- Kitty Sucker
- Little Devil
- End Of Suffering