Raging Speedhorn – Night Wolf | Album Review

Lock your doors and stock up on silver bullets because Raging Speedhorn are on the prowl with their beastly seventh album, Night Wolf.

As the tongue in cheek title and brightly coloured artwork illustration in homage to 80s movies, namely Teen Wolf, would suggest, this is Raging Speedhorn kicking back and having some fun. What they’ve delivered is a 35-minute high-octane slab of stoner-tinged heavy metal complete with thrills, spills and even a few laughs. There’s an unbridled joy in the heaviness here. Yes the sextet’s claws are out, their teeth are bared and they’re ready to to rip your throat out, but all the while they’re clad in varsity jackets and surfing on the roof of a transit van.

On ‘Buzz Killer’, the band’s swagger-bordering-on-arrogance really bubbles to the surface, as they take out their frustrations on the mood hoovers of this world with almost comical directness “You make me sick! (Buzz Killer) Your life’s a bitch! (Buzz Killer) Don’t be a dick!” And so on. It would be easy to dismiss it as trite if the accompanying riffs weren’t so damn good. There’s even a nod to Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’ thrown into the outro for good measure.

‘Can’t Stop’ is a chest pumping, Downset-esque anthem of unity and self belief, repeat with half rapped/half barked verses. ‘Every Night’s Alright For Fighting’ is probably the most Raging Speedhorn track that Raging Speedhorn have ever written. It’s a full on, bloodstained, whiskey soaked bar-room brawl of a track, a flipped table in the face of all that is decent. And while you could argue that at their age the lads should know better, it’s still gloriously entertaining to stand back from a safe distance and watch the chaos unfold. There are knowing winks to the camera scattered throughout such as the banjo shuffle in ‘Comin’ In Hard’ or the frankly hilarious breakdown in ‘Dead Men Can’t Dance’ where Frank Regan starts snarling about boogie-woogieing with Satan.

It’s not all fun and games though, there are moments of real metallic weight peppered throughout. Take the opener ‘Blood Red Sky’ for example, which features haunting middle eastern scales and gurgling death growls from Dan and Frank, or the gruelling doom dirge of ‘The Blood Code’, which will satiate the appetites of those who like their riffs on the slower end of the Speedhorn spectrum.

While it’s well documented that their hellraising attitude and penchant for a tipple and other substances has led to some chaotic and troubling incidents over the years, it’s clear from the quality of these songs that when it comes to writing and recording, Raging Speedhorn know how to get their heads down and focus on producing the best music they can. They’ve put the time in to develop these songs, as can be heard in the deftly applied harmonies courtesy of Jim Palmer and new recruit Daf Williams that give extra spice to the already piquant riffs or the multi-layered vocals that lend a real density to the choruses. Russ Russell’s production is taught and muscular, the whole thing sounding absolutely massive, especially Gordon Morrison’s thunderous drums.

Night Wolf is the sound of Raging Speedhorn staking their claim to the throne which will become vacant once Orange Goblin play their final shows and abdicate as Kings of British Heavy Metal. If they can keep producing work of this quality, then long may Speedhorn reign.