★★★★

It’s been many years since Frank Carter stood as the iconic frontman for British punk band Gallows. In the years preceding we saw him dive into tattooing and front the group Pure Love. Now Carter has returned with a backing band called The Rattlesnakes to unleash some more havoc unto the world.

Carter fans will find that Blossom slots nicely in between his work in Gallows and Pure Love. The Rattlesnakes keep things heavy on this album, but not in the intense hardcore style of Gallows. There are (relatively) softer moments like the bluesy opening to ‘I Hate You’, but it doesn’t take long before exploding into big riffs and heavy punch-the-floor breaks.

The focus of the album is, of course, Carter himself. He howls with a furious passion on every song, taking breaks in between lines to gasp for air and deliver the next blow. Unfortunately, several tracks feature a distracting overdriven effect on Carter’s vocals, which nearly always work to the detriment of the song. It’s perplexing to think that anyone believed his unfiltered vocal takes weren’t intense enough to begin with.

Weird production choices aside, Carter is back in the saddle with an album that connects with a big right hook.

Blossom by Frank Carter And The Rattlesnakesis out through International Death Cult/Kobalt.

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