Daughters, Dinosaurs, Tom Morello: See Frank Carter Dissect "Tyrant Lizard King" | Revolver

Daughters, Dinosaurs, Tom Morello: See Frank Carter Dissect "Tyrant Lizard King"

Singer breaks down standout cut from latest full-length with the Rattlesnakes, 'End of Suffering'

In May, U.K. hardcore punks Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes released End of Suffering, their third album together. The second track, "Tyrant Lizard King," came packed with a Tom Morello solo spot, and in the latest entry in their "Behind the Album" video series, Carter, producer Cam Blackwood, guitarist Dean Richardson and mixer Alan Moulder sat down with with BBC Radio 1 DJ Jack Saunders to talk about that collaboration.

In the video, Frank Carter reveals that the title of "Tyrant Lizard King" came from an afternoon he spent at the natural history museum with his daughter. He read on a placard that the Latin translation of Tyrannosaurus Rex was "Tyrant Lizard King." To Carter, the song deals with his own identity crisis; someone caught between the responsibilities of a dad, and the revelries of being the singer of a punk band. It's hard to think of an origin story in heavy music that's more wholesome. 

"I was in this weird juxtaposition of like, one day I was a dad and the next day I was a rockstar. I was trying to balance those things, and trying to sort of find a way to integrate them together," he says. "What I missed is that's just who I am. I'm all of those sides. Depending on the day, one is going to shine through more a bit more than the other."

Carter also reveals that the Tom Morello collaboration came out of a relationship he established with the guitar wizard after Rage Against the Machine took his old band, Gallows, out on tour with them. "He's always respected me as a performer," he continues. "And he raised me without knowing it. [Rage] is arguably the most important band in my life. … [I said] I've got a song right now, and it needs a bridge. We'd like a Tom Morello solo." Watch the full clip above, and see Frank and Co. discuss "Why a Butterfly Can't Love a Spider," from End of Suffering, below: