Review Summary: A long time coming.
Back in april of 2009 I joined this illustrious website because of one single reason; I had found a couple months prior an album that sparked an intense passion in me. I spent hours browsing through websites in search of validation of my opinion. That, the album in question being “Grey Britain” by Gallows, was the best straight up hardcore album of the decade and that Frank Carter was the leader that this generation of punk rock/hardcore had been aching for, a man that encompassed the aggressive nature of the genre perfectly. Much to my despair, this was not to last; as frank decided to move away from Gallows after that colossal album. And left a massive void in what was to become a shadow of the band he once fronted. And so he chose to move away and play a much more radio oriented Rock style with his new project Pure Love. A true beast had been tamed.
There is a line on the movie “Rocky Balboa” where Sylvester Stallone states that sometimes “the fire still burns inside of you” no matter the circumstances, and you just gotta put it out, and as soon as Fangs kick starts things you get a definitive statement, frank carter still got that fire in him. With a groovy bass line and aggressive guitar attack Fangs and Primary Explosive do their earnest to go back to the days of Orchestra of Wolves, the former being a hard hitting freight train with twists and turns courtesy of the pummeling riffs, the later possessing a impressive drum work by former The Ghost of a Thousand drummer Memby Jago.
The true standout is the massive “Paradise”, a piece of unadulterated loathing towards religious extremists, Paradise shows The Rattlesnakes firing on all pistons with the massive vocal performance of their leader, it’s a massive cacophony of sound that encapsulates perfectly what the band stands for, and what they hope to achieve with the sound they are crafting, lastly but not least, a slow burner. the closer and hidden track “Loss” shows carter stripped down of every piece of armor and left bare boned with all of his grieve, a true stellar piece that shares much in common with The Vulture pt. I off of Grey Britain.
Despite its small run time, Rotten showcases a band that is pretty damn consolidated within their sound, be it the massive riffs or the supple and prominent bass sound, the Rattlesnakes know how to make a ruckus.
