Dark Rainbow is the fifth studio album by British rock band Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes, released on 26 January 2024 through International Death Cult and AWAL. It received positive reviews from critics.
Dark Rainbow received a score of 71 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on five critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception.[1]Mojo stated that "After the initial shock, the pair's songwriting smarts cuts through persuasively, alongside strong messaging about acknowledging your needs and vulnerabilities".[4] Jack Terry of DIY felt that the album "sounds like many of the best bits of each of their previous records" and also wrote that "the eleven tracks here are perhaps their most consistent and level to date [...] it seems they're keeping themselves well oiled".[2]
Kerrang!'s Mark Sutherland stated that it is "the sheer quality of the songs that is the most seductive thing here" as it is "augmented with pianos, synths and strings, heavy with mature power ballads and emotionally charged throughout".[3] Reviewing the album for MusicOMH, Russ Horton wrote that it "set[s] a tone of self-evaluation and reflection" and "ranges from delightful weirdness to gloriously anthemic bombast" and while "a significant improvement on their last album", it "doesn't quite hit the heights they've previously shown themselves to be capable of".[5] Simon K. of Sputnikmusic called it "easily the best Rattlesnakes album since Modern Ruin" with "sashaying, fuzzed-out rock grooves, retro-esque synths, dour ballads, and a creeping psychedelic undercurrent [being] the main order of the day, and while the guitar aspect of the record certainly has the most derivative aspects, it's all pulled off pretty well".[6]
