Frank Iero ‘Barriers’ – Album Review

Frank Iero ‘Barriers’ – Album Review

May 16, 2019

“For Frank Iero, making music has always been a coping mechanism. But it’s also much more than just a way of dealing with the hardships of life – it’s a means of stepping back to take in the hurricane that is life, both in all its glory and devastation and acknowledging the things you could, and maybe should, have done differently”.

“Regret flows through Barriers, Iero’s third solo record, more than anything he’s ever made before. Made with his new band, The Future Violents, and recorded and mixed by Steve Albini, it’s an album that directly and deliberately challenges the doubts that plague us, whether on a trivial, everyday basis or a more meaningful level”.

“To that extent, its fourteen songs are much more than a deeply existential journey into his heart and mind. They also reinvent who he is as a musician and tackle head-on the fundamental question of what it means to actually be alive, to be human”.

Frank Iero and The Future Violents – Barriers

REVIEWER – Ben Nicol

Former My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero – under the new moniker of Frank Iero and The Future Violents – has finished his first batch of new tunes since a near-death accident back in 2016 put an abrupt stop to his Sydney tour. The end result is his third album, Barriers, an accessible record that doesn’t stray too far from the alternative-rock make-up of heavy guitar riffs, moody lyrics and wailing vocals.

His latest effort kicks off with a distant organ holding long, sustained chords and already the My Chemical Romance fanboy inside of me can’t help but pick up The Black Parade vibes. But where The Black Parade wallowed in darkness, Iero’s opening track, A New Day’s Coming, hints at a far more hopeful and optimistic future. This track proves to be somewhat of an outlier though and is immediately juxtaposed with the hard-hitting Young and Doomed, a far more accurate representation of the mood this record encapsulates. 

The 14-track release is made up of wild, fast-pace tracks – reaching fever pitch at Moto Pop and Police Police – that are occasionally broken up by slower, more downbeat songs that allow Iero’s vocals to shine in the forefront. Whether it’s the lone piano arpeggios in Great Party or the moments of sparseness during the emphatic album-closer 24k Lush, these quieter moments put a brake on the adrenaline and inject some much-needed variety.

Iero has clearly been working arduously for the past 6 years to cement his name as a solo artist – away from the towering shadow of his successful past – and while there’s definitely something familiar left in Barriers, he continues to cement his own identity.  

Watch ‘Young And Doomed’ here

Frank Iero and the Future Violents is Evan NestorMatt ArmstrongTucker Rule and Kayleigh Goldsworthy.

Barriers was recorded and mixed by Steve Albini and will be released via UNFD on May 31, 2019.

Connect with Frank Iero

FACEBOOK // INSTAGRAM // TWITTER