BOKKERIJDERS interview

Hail! You describe BOKKERIJDERS as simply playing “METAL”, with Aura Noir, Slayer and Turbonegro apparently sitting at the same table. Was that attitude there from the beginning, or did you arrive at it after getting tired of people trying to put your music into increasingly specific boxes?

Niels: we don’t let us put in boxes, to be put in a box limits your creativity. I don't like boxes, only my cat’s do. The attitude from the beginning was just Me, Laurens and Jeffrey wanting to listen to Slayer, drink beer and play music, and so we did.

Laurens: they only take out cardboard once a month where we live, so I like to keep the boxes to a minimum. We are very eco-friendly, you see.

Belgian black metal is hardly the first scene people mention when talking about the country's metal history. Do you actually feel part of a Belgian black-metal scene, or does BOKKERIJDERS operate somewhere outside that whole network of labels, scenes and expectations?

Niels: I personally don’t care about expectations. If people like what we do or hear, I'm already satisfied. We first of all make music we like and not make music what people want to hear. We have a nice black metal scene here for sure, but we try to be different.

Laurens: Jeffrey and I have been playing for a long time together, our first “black-ish” band being Witch Trail where we tried to imitate Midnight and the likes. We were part of Babylon Doom Cult records both with that band and Bokkerijders for a long time, so I would say yes.

There is something almost deliberately primitive about the description of Crush Kill Destroy: pounding, pulsing, riffing, roaring. But the album apparently contains “miles” of riffs and a rather carefully controlled use of solos. How much work goes into making something sound this straightforward without it actually being simple?

Laurens: about 10 working days. The invoice will follow, you guys use VAT right?

Aura Noir and Slayer make obvious sense together. Turbonegro is the one that makes me wonder what exactly you took from them. Is it the riffs, the attitude, the dirt, the humour, or simply the refusal to behave like a “proper” metal band?

Niels: I think it's the attitude of Jeffrey, his style of playing and also that he is a big fan, but for sure just that we refuse to ‘behave’ like a proper metal band, we don’t take things seriously.

Jeffrey: I still don't know where the Turbonegro came from in the influences. Don't expect to hear Bokkerijders talk about Rocking Against Ass or Rendezvous With Anus! I think Niels hit it on the head. I don't like trying to present as something deeper than we actually are, which is 3 to 4 metalhead idiots making music that sounds scary.

The title Crush Kill Destroy sounds like it was designed to leave absolutely no room for interpretation. Was that the whole point, or is there more behind those three words than the obvious caveman violence?

Niels: exactly what it means, there is nothing more behind it, and I think we couldn't come up with a better one and also to kinda laugh with the cringyness in the metal scene.

Laurens: It’s far from an original title but that’s the entire point. Also it’s a sick Sarcofago album. I’d rather let the music speak for itself.

Jeffrey: It sounds nice when you scream it into a mic.

You call the production both “ripping & raw” and “clear & gleaming”. That's quite a balancing act. How much rawness is too much before the riffs disappear, and how clean is too clean before BOKKERIJDERS starts sounding like something you would never want to listen to yourselves?

Laurens: I think that’s an interpretation of the label that got sent out with the package you guys got, but it fits well enough. We’ve been working with the same studio for a long time, Celestial Event Studio here in Belgium, so he knows exactly what we like. For mastering Viktor introduced us to Jaime from Orgone Studios, which went perfect as well.

One thing I find interesting about older metal records is that they can contain an absurd amount of riffing without feeling technically complicated. Was the goal here ever to deliberately write against the modern obsession with complexity, precision and showing the listener how much the musicians can do?

Niels: well the demo was or is just us feeling each other out, trying things out what really worked out well, went very fast and smooth, very happy what it became.

Laurens: there’s a place for complexity but Bokkerijders isn’t that place. I like the KISS principle both in life and in music, keep it simple stupid. We get bombarded with information constantly, today more than ever it has become very easy to overcomplicate things to the point of absurdity. I’d rather we not do that.

The solos are described as economical and carefully placed. Was there ever a temptation to let the guitarists go completely wild, or is knowing when NOT to play the solo actually the harder part?

Laurens: I remember Wouter deliberately choosing his solos very carefully, quoting him: “the solo has to fit the song, not the inverse.” It was one of the things I loved about writing with him.

Jeffrey: Indeed, that is almost as big of a talent as being able to play like he did. It was exciting to build up a song and get to a point where would all agree that it was time for a solo. He would non-chalantly start with some Kirk Hammett-isms but gradually he would find his own way, often the most difficult one.

Crush Kill Destroy is also Wouter Lemmens' final recording, following his death in September 2025. Without turning this into a predictable “what did Wouter mean to the band?” question: did finishing and releasing this record change your relationship with the album itself?

Niels: It sure does. rest in peace. Wouter still means a lot to the band, and always will be a part of it.

Laurens: I mean yes, it would be weird if it didn’t have an impact at all. The only thing I can hope for is this record being a goodbye worthy of who he was, what he wanted it to be.

Jeffrey: For sure.

There is a certain romantic idea that underground metal should be dirty, primitive and immediate. But the record apparently has a fairly clear and polished production underneath all that dirt. Do you think people sometimes confuse “authentic” with “badly recorded”?

Laurens: Eh, I don’t think it’s either this or that. We had the resources this time to do a polished production, so we did. Maybe next time we’ll record with a dead pigeon, who knows. It’s about working with what you have and getting the most out of it.

Jeffrey: Having a bad production for the sake of it is a bit like shooting yourself in the foot sometimes. This is indeed a good clean recording, one of the references for the mix was something like Carcass’ Heartwork.

If someone told you that Crush Kill Destroy is black metal, someone else called it speed metal, and a third person called it crust punk with metal riffs - would any of those descriptions actually annoy you, or would you just shrug and put another record on?

Niels: Not at all, again no boxes nor labels, if people like it they like it. Laurens: I would tell them we actually play with ourselves. A lot.

Jeffrey: Post-avant jazzcore is better than progressive dreamfunk. In all seriousness, I'm not annoyed by it. Rather, it's an incentive to keep deceiving our audience and evolving our music.

You formed in 2021, released a demo in 2022, an EP in 2023, and now the first full-length arrives in 2026. That's not exactly an enormous discography. Are you deliberately keeping BOKKERIJDERS compact, or are you simply not interested in releasing music until there is enough worth putting on a record?

Niels: I think it’s a bit of both, we don’t give ourselves deadlines or anything like that, we’re ready when we’re ready.

Laurens: You know what they say about music, don’t quit your day job. We’re not full time musicians so we don’t put any pressure on ourselves.

Jeffrey: Believe you me, we have tried our best to finish this as soon as possible without trying to rush and hurt the process.

If “METAL” is really the only category BOKKERIJDERS needs, what is one thing happening in metal right now that you absolutely do NOT want anywhere near the band?

Niels: Beer without alcohol.

Laurens: Lyric videos and taxes.

Jeffrey: Bad riffs.

https://bokkerijders.bandcamp.com/