Released:
Rating:
The record Frank Carter’s been destined to make since the very start.
Label: Kobalt
Released: 20th January 2017
Rating: ★★★★★
Frank Carter’s been here before. From bursting into frame with Gallows or the anthemic pop detour of Pure Love, he’s rolled the dice a few times, yet none have come up quite as high as his latest run with The Rattlesnakes. After stamping his mark as one of the best live acts going, the next step was to lay out a record that’ll take him onto the biggest stages of his career. In ‘Modern Ruin’ he’s found it.
A perfect crystallisation of everything he’s turned his hand to, ‘Modern Ruin’ is a direct and chest grabbing tour-de-force that stands as flag-bearing call to arms. Immediate and uncompromising, it’s the cross-over record that makes its home not only in festival fields and high-octane venues but on daytime radio and the hand-written notes of a nation. It’s a record that delivers the stadium-sized moments in ‘Snake Eyes’, ‘Wild Flowers’ and the state of the world cries of ‘Thunder’ yet equally drenches itself in the sort of unparalleled in-your-face bursts that’ll hit many in the face like a heavyweight title fight with ‘Vampires’, ‘God Is My Friend’ and the title track itself. It’s the sound of a band brimming with confidence, breathing out pure hunger in everything they do and seizing their space at 2017’s top table.
As the chilling standout ‘Neon Rust’ rings out with its sombre Nine Inch Nails eruption of sparse tones into volcanic depths, there’s only one impression left. That this is the record Frank Carter’s been destined to make since the very start, one that oozes with the swagger and bravado that’s defined him for over a decade yet underneath bears witness to the vulnerable turns and shadows that make him one of the most captivating figures of our times. ‘Modern Ruin’ is the record that not only sits as his masterpiece but sits as the one that’ll take him to that arena he deserves. The bite of The Rattlesnakes is something you’ll not be able to shake off any longer. Jamie Muir
