Introducing: Raise Your Fist

Brutal Belgian metalcore band Raise Your Fist are reviving the sound, approach and values of old-school metal, so expect vicious hardcore vocals, heavy riffing and the occasional moment of melody.

Raise Your Fist’s members hail from an area called The Kempen, in Flanders in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, which is renowned for its proudly “straight-up, no-nonsense people.” The band was started by Sander Dockx (lead guitar) and Dimitri Michiels (drums), before bringing in Sander’s friend Joas Pyckhout on vocals and Tom de Houwer, who knew both Sander and Dimitri, on rhythm guitar. Completing the band posed a few challenges but Dimitri eventually encountered bassist Benjamin Climan at his birthday party playing Magic The Gathering in 2022.

On the sound they’ve crafted since, Joas told us: “Energetic would be the first word to come to mind. We aim to put all our frustration, passion and energy into the songs, so that when people listen to them, that power is transferred instantaneously. Our music is honest. The lyrics speak our truth and the music doesn’t bullshit you. What you hear and see is what you get. It represents who we are as persons. We are not playing a part and we refuse to create something to please other people. Every part is an aspect of the creators. If you like it: great! If you don’t, whatever.

“It’s also old school. A little bit in the literal sense, because we tend to blend in some classic-sounding riffs and sounds. But even more so in the sense that we hold the old-school values high. Respect, friendship, dedication… all those things that were referential in classic hardcore and metalcore. We aim to bring that back to the scene.”

To get a taste for this, the band sent us Inner Strain, which was released at the end of last month. It opens up with crashing cymbals and big rolling drums under a stabbing guitar lick, before blasting into a powerful opening verse. Cool descending guitars tee up a big chorus of heavy vocals supported by a cool riff, which ends with chunky guitar chords. It descends into new levels of intensity with thick chords and vicious vocals that lead into another chorus, which ends with a cool guitar solo. That tees up a final blast of the chorus before ending on heavy guitars.

On the track, Joas said: “The reception has been very positive. We have had some good reviews and a lot of international playlists added it. So of course we are excited about that. There are always some people that are not drawn to the style. My vocals, for instance, have a very distinct sound, that you either like or don’t. It brings a hardcore touch to the music that we love. We would describe the song as a mix of old-school metalcore with snappy hardcore vocals. There are some melodic riffs and a juicy breakdown in the middle and end. We think it’s one of the better songs on the album, that’s why we pre-released it.”

As alluded to, Inner Strain comes from Raise Your Fist’s fantastic new EP Leader of the Pack, which was released last week. It offers plenty more metalcore goodness, including the excellent The Pack, which features dual screamed and clean vocals through the chorus and drops into intense vocals before a big outro, the powerful Against The Order, and the slightly more melodic closing track Never Out, which ends with vicious screamed vocals and chugging low-tuned guitars.

But a personal favourite track is Forced Freedom, which opens up with atmospheric guitars dropping into a delicious booming riff that continues through a wild verse. A cool piercing lick jumps in, then gives way to the huge riff setting up another intense chorus. Spoken vocals descend into wild vocals, chugging guitars and doomy drums, setting up what you kind of expect to be a brutal ending – only for a big drum roll drop back into a welcome return of the booming opening riff that we can’t get enough of.

On the EP as a whole, Joas told us: “We were still looking for our sound on the debut album (First Things First, 2023), and we feel like we really found our style on Leader of the Pack. The budget we had to create this EP was higher as well. You will notice this in the higher production quality and the concept. I turned a room in my house into a home studio and recorded the tracks, but the mixing and mastering was done by Max Everaert from Everhard Productions. We are very happy with the results.

“The EP art and merchandise was created by Victor Descheemaecker. He brings out the aggression of our music in the art beautifully. We also made an intro to the EP which highlights our values. The rest of the music will be in your face, like a freight train on steroids. We were lucky to get guest vocals from some great singers from the Belgian scene. Ziggy from Fatal Move goes nuts in Against the Order, for instance. So brace yourselves and enjoy the beating.”

The Raise Your Fist sound draws on a range of metal and punk influences. Benjamin is into old-school influences like Hatebreed, Chimaira and Stick To Your Guns. Tom is more into to punk while fellow axeman Sander draws on heavy bands like Lamb Of God. Dimitri is big into his veteran death metal and Joas brings more modern metalcore to the table.

On what inspires them to write music, Joas explains: “We write about what we experience in life, both in the lyrics and the music. We share our own struggles and frustrations. We share our hopes and beliefs. If we see things that feel like an injustice, we will write about it. We talk about the things that are close to our hearts. The things that we feel like sharing. We aim to be as honest as possible.

“In the end, music means something different for everyone. So if you want to know what Raise Your Fist is all about, listen to our music. Of course, you can follow us on socials, which we appreciate, but you won’t really know Raise Your Fist until you have been at one of our concerts. Because that is what music and bands are about. Music and experiencing that music live. Feeling the energy, having a good time and charging through the pit. So, if you ever get the chance, join us in an evening of metalcore mayhem.”

You can follow Raise Your Fist on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.