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The Gauntlet: Raging Speedhorn |
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Raging Speedhorn Album Review
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Tracklist
1. Everything Changes
2. Before The Sea Was Built
3. Dignity Stripper
4. Mishima
5. Last Comet From Nothingness
6. Born To Twist The Knife
7. Who Will Guard The Guards?
8. Too Drunk To Give A ****
9. Sound Of Waves
10. Jump Ship
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Here’s the fourth full-length record from UK stalwarts Raging Speedhorn. With the member shifts that followed the band’s 2005 effort “How The Great Have Fallen,” the group has pushed forward into a more artistic, ambience-centered direction that’s at times progressive, during others harshly ambient and a bit different than what we’ve heard from the group in the past.
There’s a more obscure underlying energy to this album that permeates cuts like the swirling, gnashing “Mishima” and the record’s reflective opener “Everything Changes,” which kicks off with a Tool-like introduction before toiling into a hypnotically harsh, slow-tempo vent. Bloody Kev of the seminal UK hardcore crew Hard To Swallow replaces Frank Regan as one half of the band’s dual-vocal team, his gruff style merging perfectly with that of Jon Loughlin, the presence of Kev, (who’s former act played a major role in influencing the initial workings of Raging Speedhorn) giving the act a more brooding, yet still abrasive tone.
As the album’s title track offers dizzying axework and upfront vocal aggression, the progression in the band’s sound is starkly apparent. While many will continue to label the group as being sludgecore, there’s more substance to be found here to dismiss the style as simply such. You’ll uncover manic riffing and a pissed atmosphere during “Born To Twist The Knife” that will have your head spinning and your mind racing with visions of violence and mayhem. This is an entirely different musical phenomenon than what we’ve come to expect from the group – dissonant and decisively surreal. “Too Drunk To Give A Fuck” relays a bit of the group’s former presence, but the twists undertaken during this track’s bridges offset the punkier verse and chorus rhythms with a dangerous appeal that further underlines this act’s evolution.
Quite appealing in its straightforward, to-the-point approach, this record offers plenty of replay value. While the group experiments and evolves, the members don’t get too wrapped up in their own creativity, offering listeners a good dose of aggressive coarseness with the perfect balance of contorted melody. “Before The Sea Was Built” is like a bath in an ocean of sand on an overcast day. A befitting resurrection for these talented chaps, it’s one that’s definitely worth a closer look.
Review by: E.F.
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