Ramón Dorenbos of stagesnapper was present at our show in Manifesto Hoorn. Hear and see what he whitnessed.
The evening kicked off, and then HAKSELAER took the stage.
Their own description says it all: brutal, razor-sharp, loud, and sparing absolutely nothing and no one. HAKSELAER is a three-piece death/thrash metal machine from the Netherlands—and after this performance, I can only conclude that the machine was running at full throttle.
Stephen de Ruijter – guitar. Ivo Bijker – bass & vocals. Ruben Meibergen – drums.
That’s it. Three guys.
And yet, the sound pouring off that stage is truly formidable. You look at the stage and see three musicians, but your ears tell you there must be at least three more guys hiding somewhere behind the amps. Pounding guitars, thundering drums, a crushing bass, and vocals rammed straight down your throat. How the @%@%@$@ do three people produce *that* much sound from a single stage? HAKSELAER doesn't seem interested in answering that question. They simply crank everything up, floor the gas pedal, and unleash the beast.
And perhaps the best part is that, behind all that musical fury, lie three incredibly nice and enthusiastic guys. Seriously—ridiculously nice people. The contrast is almost hilarious. On stage: pure metal! Off stage: three super-friendly guys who are clearly having a blast doing what they do.
And then there’s Stephen. For a concert photographer, Stephen is both a gift and a serious challenge. The man doesn't just play guitar; he attacks it. Every riff seems to come with an extra dose of movement, energy, and hair-whipping action. During the set, Stephens’ hair was flying in every direction—left, right, forward, backward... basically everywhere except where a decent hairstyle would normally want to stay put.
So, the biggest mystery of the entire evening wasn't how three musicians could produce such a massive wall of sound. No. The real mystery was how Stephen walked off stage afterwards with his hair perfectly back in a neat part. After everything that hair had endured during the show—headbanging, movement, and total chaos—you’d expect heavy industrial machinery to be required just to get it back into some semblance of order.
But all joking aside: HAKSELAER delivered. And how. Raw energy. A massive sound. Aggression. Tight musicianship. Enthusiasm. And above all, that wonderful feeling that these three men are having a blast completely tearing the stage apart. This is exactly what a three-piece metal band should be capable of: no unnecessary bullshit, no huge lineup to hide behind—just three musicians, their instruments, and a massive amount of @%@%@% noise.
HAKSELAER didn't need a big band to make a big impression. *They* were the big band.
Three men. One stage. Maximum volume.
And if this is just the beginning for HAKSELAER, then I’d keep my ears wide open. Because this machine makes a ^@%@%@ lot of noise. HAKSELAER – THREE MEN. ONE @@^@^@%! WALL OF SOUND.
Check Ramón's view of the whole evening on stagesnapper
