Raging Speedhorn discuss returning with new line up and sixth LP Hard To Kill

Corby metal legends Raging Speedhorn returned this month with their sixth album Hard To Kill.

Already lauded by both fans and critics, the record is everything you have come to expect from the six-piece – dual-attack vocals, huge metal riffs and – according to drummer Gordon Morison – just enough hooks to give the album a little bit of a commercial edge.

In a recent series of posts on social media, Raging Speedhorn seem genuinely surprised and happy at the response to Hard To Kill, revealing its chart positions which include number 11 in the rock and metal chart, 26 in the indie album chart, seven in the indie breakers chart and 95 in the physical album chart.

Conceived, written and recorded before the outbreak of the coronavirus, Morison said: “The reaction we’ve had already has been amazing.

“We put a lot of effort and time in and we wanted it to be the best record we could possibly make.

“People seem to be saying it's back to the ‘older’ Speedhorn sound almost.

“Everything and everyone has been really positive, so you can imagine we’re really happy at the minute.”

While Raging Speedhorn will always be a name synonymous with the Northamptonshire town, now-a-days, members are scattered across the UK.

Although singer Frank Regan is still based in the county, Morison lives in Wales with the rest of the band dotted around the Midlands and The Potteries.

Morison and Regan are joined in Raging Speedhorn by singer Daniel Cook, guitarists James Palmer and Dave Leese and bassist Andy Gilmour.

The writing of Hard To Kill involved the band sharing riffs and song ideas via online messaging apps before rehearsing in the Midlands.

Geographic distance is one they have always had to overcome, with many former members moving away from Corby when the band first found success at the turn of the century.

“It’s always been like this – it’s just a lot easier because of technology,” explains Morison – who when not drumming in Speedhorn and in ‘non-coronavirus times’ works as a tour manager and operates a fleet of vans used by bands.

“I’d actually say it's a lot easier than it ever has been to rehearse because everybody really wants to be in the band.

“We’re probably putting more effort into it now then I think we ever have done,” he admits.

Hard To Kill is the first Raging Speedhorn album without original singer John Loughlin.

His replacement Cook however was a familiar name to fans of the band, having previously stood in when fellow frontman Regan temporarily stepped aside through illness.

“I was a little worried about what people would think,” admits Morison, “John had been in the band as long as I have.

“But when we said that Dan was going to come in the reaction was amazing.

“Everyone seems really into it and when we brought out the first single Snakebite, it got a good reaction. That was half the battle won there.

“Dan was already ‘tried and tested’ and he’s a great guy.”

In the evolving Raging Speedhorn line up, Cook’s arrival followed other personnel changes which included the arrival of former Hundred Reasons man Andy Gilmour on bass.

With members either leaving or temporarily leaving and then returning, Morison jokes, “It felt like it was me holding onto everything.

“Andy was really coming in to help us out because we had shows and a couple of festivals.

“He said he couldn’t join another band because he had other things going on and then halfway through a show, he came up to me and said I want to join.

“I told him he had joined the band - we weren’t going to let him go.”

Hard To Kill was recorded at Kettering’s Parlour Studios with Russ Russell (Napalm Death / At The Gates) at the helm again – having recorded 2016’s Lost Ritual.

Raging Speedhorn’s relationship with Russell goes back to the band’s early days, having recorded Regan’s previous band.

Morison jokes they discussed for about two seconds the idea of recording somewhere else.

“It’s funny how it’s taken this long before we started working with him,” he explains.

“I think it’s because when we first met, he was more of a sound engineer and we weren’t around that much.

“Now, I wouldn’t want to record anywhere else with anyone else.

“He’s as mad as we are which is great. It’s really hard for people to understand us because we're quite a weird bunch of people.”

The music on Hard To Kill was recorded before Raging Speedhorn asked Cook to sing on the record.

As the album neared completion, Morison said he had a feeling they had a strong record in their hands.

“Everything just came together at the right time,” he admits.

“People are saying it's a brutal sounding record but to me, I’d say it’s actually a bit more commercially friendly.

“It’s got lots of hooks and the singing is a lot more ‘hooky’.

“It sounds massive and I think that's one part of it. Russ has made us sound fantastic.”

Turning to the album, Morrison cites Doom Machine as his favourite of Hard To Kill’s nine tracks – the final track being a cover of T. Rex’s Children Of The Revolution.

“It's a bit of a cliche but I really do love every track on the album,” explains Morison.

“I’d say Doom Machine is the standout for me though.

“We knew it was a good song when it started to come together.

“There’s violins on it and it’s got that epic Led Zeppelin vibe to it and at the end it just builds and builds to one last riff.

“I just couldn't believe it when I heard the finish mixed version.”

Despite its champions, metal is notoriously absent from the airwaves of national daytime radio.

Among its supporters is BBC Radio 6 Music presenter and DJ Mary-Anne Hobbs, who picked and played Hard To Kill’s title track on her daytime show last month.

“A band like us doesn't get played on daytime radio,” admits Morison.

“It blew my mind, it really did because that's the station me and my wife have on all the time.

“In the UK we’ve still got a good fanbase – we know there’s going to be coverage, but it’s still crazy.”

With the country set for another national lockdown, a run of recently announced socially distanced shows to support Hard To Kill are currently on hold.

Raging Speedhorn were among the first bands to live stream a gig from London’s Underworld during the first national lockdown in March, however, Morison admits they don’t have any plans to do that again.

On the concept of ‘socially distanced shows’ he admits, “People are just going to have to get used to it because it ain’t going back to normality anytime soon.

“I think bands have got to try and do something. It’s not just for our sake, it’s for everybody.

“People need an outlet and socially distanced shows will be as strange and weird for us as fans.”

Having celebrated the 20th anniversary of the band in 2018 with gigs in Corby and at the Electric Ballroom in London, Raging Speedhorn plan to reissue their first two records in the coming years, having recently being able to lease the albums back.

Hard To Kill is out now on Red Weed records on vinyl, CD and digital platforms.

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