RAGING SPEEDHORN
Northamptonshire’s most brutal veterans are ready to take their comeback to the next level
Despite reforming back in 2014, Raging Speedhorn, Corby’s nastiest export, have only released one album in that time, the fan-funded Lost Ritual in 2016. But that’s all about to change, as they gear up to unleashed their sixth full-length, and one that, as vocalist Frank Regan tells us, should see them return to former glories.
Does this feel more like a proper return, after the last album was only released via pledgemusic?
“Yeah, exactly. We’ve been back a while, but this is the first time that we’ve really had a go at it. We really want to put out a killer record, get back out on the road and do everything as much as we used to when we were around the first time. Lost Ritual was good, but it was for the fans; this feels much more like a proper album for us. But the last album was still good for us, the fans seemed to like it, and we sold 10,000 copies of it! That’s a pretty big deal these days isn’t it. I dunno how we did it, but we made 10,000 and we sold the lot.”
What’s it sounding like? “It’s sounding like us! I dunno what else to say about it, really. It’s probably most like the second album if I had to pick one. We know what we are and what we want to do: just make it fucking heavy, you know what I mean?” so you haven’t been listening to the new breed of metal bands to get some inspiration?
“No. Not at all. I don’t even know who you’d be talking about. There are so many bands these days that I can’t even keep up. We’re just inspired in making heavy music like we used to. It was a much simpler time when we were first about. We just wanted to support Iron Monkey! When they split up we thought, ‘Let’s just fill that void’, and we could. The scene was smaller back then but it was still fucking brilliant. Good days.”
speedhorn have always had some seriously brutal songtitles – Knives And Faces, Spitting Blood, Necrophiliac Glue Sniffer… what delights can we expect this time around? “Ha ha! We’ve got a few, don’t worry… Hard To Kill, Doom Machine, Snake Bite, which can either be about the drink or the actual snake. They’re just names, so you might as well have some cool-sounding ones.”
You guys are often thought of as a real road dog band. Do you enjoy the studio as much as being out on tour?
“Oh, I enjoy being on tour much more, for sure. But I like being in the studio as well. It’s cool just hanging out with your mates and having a few beers and writing music. We’re in our 40s now, so we don’t get to just hang out like we used to. We’ve all got jobs and kids and other things going on, so this feels like a throwback to the good old days.”
Do you think this album could propel the band back to the days of magazine covers and big festival mainstages?
“I dunno about magazine covers, we never should have done all that shit in the first place. We’d love to be able to do the band with as much intensity as we used to, of course, and I think this album can compete with the new bands, so I don’t see why we can’t hit those heights again.”
and will that bring the notorious raging speedhorn drinking and partying ethics back with them? “Well, I’m not gonna lie, I’m still pretty naughty. The boys had to tell me off a few days ago because I got so drunk. I can’t help it man, that’s why you join a band isn’t it, to bang your head and get fucked up? I’m a bit of a liability. I should grow up, but it is what it is.”
The new Raging Speedhorn album will be Released in early 2020