LIVE REVIEW: Raging Speedhorn @ Think Tank?, Newcastle (6.12.14)

For metal fans of a certain vintage, the name Raging Speedhorn will always be fondly remembered. Emerging from Corby at the turn of the millennium, they were a gleefully messy and unrefined response to the glut of abysmal American nu-metal, six crazed hedonists delivering a molten stew of sludge riffs and hardcore ferocity and refusing to take anything even remotely seriously.

Having spluttered to a halt in 2008 after a litany of record company woes and line-up changes this year, their unexpected return this year saw both their original vocalists return to the camp – if not exactly unfinished business, their first UK tour in six years finds the band pressing the reset button to focus almost exclusively on their first two albums.

For all those in Think Tank tonight, that’s exactly what they want. Drummer Gordon Morrison turns on every amp to build up a piercing wall of feedback, before the rest of the band emerge to a hero’s welcome and get straight down to business. This is no-nonsense, no-bullshit stuff, just an hour of magnificently grimy metal that feels like it could blow its way out of the venue at any moment. One new song suggests that they could be more than capable of picking off where they left off, but as Frank Reagan and John Loughlin prowl the stage during Speedhorn fan favourites like The Hate Song and Me and You Man, it’s the chance for band and audience to celebrate past glories that’s the real priority right now.