At one stage during the start of the millennium it seemed that the hopes of the British metal scene rested on Raging Speedhorn’s shoulders.
Ultimately it was a burden that proved too heavy as, four crushing albums into their chart-bothering career, the Corby six-piece crumbled in 2008. Now back, the sludge, hardcore and stoner-informed bruisers have lost none of their intensity and Lost Ritual picks up exactly where they left off.
Opening with the tooth-rattlingly heavy Bring Out Your Dead, business really picks up on Halfway To Hell, which mixes together Maiden guitar harmonies and the meanness of Wade MacNeil-era Gallows. Evil Or Mental has a huge hook you could hang the moon off, while Motörhead, their most traditional rock’n’roll track to date, is a fitting tribute. Though slightly front-loaded (The Hangman doesn’t quite match the roar of the record’s first half) Lost Ritual feels like a triumph and dual vocalists Frank and John are in the form of their lives. Welcome back, boys.
