I like the beats and I like the yelling, 19th October 26

Bokkerijders: Crush Kill DestroyOut 23rd October on Personal Records The debut album from this Belgium outfit smuggles in a surprisingly broad sweep of meditative, melodic, emotive black metal beneath a superficial façade of old school speed metal. Initially we are taken in by the homebrewed energy of Aura Noir or Merciless, only to be swept off into ambient, folk, and atmospheric territory by the second half of the album as epic tracts gradually stretch their limbs, sometimes reminiscent of earlier Enslaved, albeit with a thick thrash lacquer applied for good measure. In this sense ‘Crush Kill Destroy’ is a quintessential game of two halves. The album is frontloaded with off-the-shelf black thrash riffs which might pass without note were it not the competency and authenticity of the performance itself. There is a conviction to the way Bokkerijders convey this material, aided and abetted by the polished production which, one would hope, might draw in a broader sweep of listeners…