Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – Dark Rainbow review

As talked about many times here before, it’s standard practice now for artists to create a distance between themselves and their previous work; mindful of our chronically short attention spans, pop’s original strengths of consistency and familiarity never made it into the new century.

In Gallows Frank Carter was once the frontman for the hardcore band who would be kings, but their messy dissolution and life since has taught him many lessons, not least of which is that the past is a different country. With The Rattlesnakes his career arc has been stop start, their last album Sticky a post-pandemic blast of bravado rooted in hedonism.

Three years further on Dark Rainbow marks a very genuine reset, both for Carter due to regaining sobriety and also for himself and creative partner Dean Richardson as songwriters. This is quite simply a different human to the one who screeched his manifesto on Orchestra of Wolves, as Queen of Hearts and Sun Break Golden Happening prove, both eerie, piano led ballads, whilst even the more familiar in tone Man of The Hour questions everything about what it is to be a 20’s rock star.

It doesn’t need PRsplaining to understand that Dark Rainbow is very different from what’s gone before, a leap forward that for Frank Carter was ti seems a necessity rather than a choice of career design.

You can read a full review here.