Band:	Raging Speedhorn
Album:	Before The Sea Was Built
Style:	Nu metal
Release date:	October 2007
A review by:	jupitreas

01. Everything Changes
02. Before The Sea Was Built
03. Dignity Stripper
04. Mishima
05. Last Comet From Nothingness
06. Born To Twist The Knife
07. Who Will Guard The Guards?
08. Too Drunk To Give A Fuck
09. Sound Of Waves
10. Jump Ship

Why, this is definitely a change of pace for Raging Speedhorn! If memory serves, these Brits used to specialize in their own brand of sludgecore, generally making music that was not so much brutal as brutish, the equivalent of getting killed with rhythmic pounds from a baseball bat, rather than the more common Cenobite dissection that aggressive bands tend to offer. The new album, Before The Sea Was Built, sees the band incorporating post-metal elements into their sound and doing it quite well, I should add.

Most post-metal bands nowadays make fairly tribal and droning type of music, which is why Speedhorn's groove-laden sludgecore roots give them a definite edge over other bands in the genre, including even such names as Cult Of Luna or Isis. Certainly, post-metal is all about redefining the language of rock but you know what? - A firm kick in the ass from the steel-capped boot of an angry punk is also part of rock music and Raging Speedhorn aren't afraid to make some people bleed here. Besides, next to the crunchy drive of "Too Drunk To Give A Fuck", the sprawling nature of more soundscape-oriented tracks such as "Last Comet From Nothingness" or "Who Will Guard The Guards?" becomes infinitely more powerful. Post-metal isn't exactly a genre lacking in dynamics, but Raging Speedhorn take it a step further, and it works immensely in their benefit. It also helps that they do it with economic gusto. This is minimalism taken in precisely the right direction, a thinking-man's band with street-cred, my favorite post-metal album of the year.

Clearly, this album made quite an impression on me. While definitely not the melting-pot of interesting music that it was in its beginnings, the post-metal genre is still capable of producing some groundbreaking records. This is one of them.