Primal Creation are a five piece thrash metal band that came together in 2007, but it wasn’t until 2013 that they embarked onto the creation of what would be their EP titled The Struggle which also marked the arrival of three members to the band. After this the thrash metal debut album titled Demockracy released in 2017. So they landed their first release, as they had singles like “The Mockracy”, “Cast The First Stone” and “Emperor” which I would consider some tracks that stand out. It was their sophomore album News Feed I had the opportunity to review myself, as this was their time to follow up now with another album in 2021, with tracks like “Please Disperse”, “Vial Play” and “Watch It Burn” really rock the socks off of any thrash metal fan.

So the real question is, what have they been up to since their second album has been out. So their lineup has changed a fair bit since the band’s early days, their current membership is led by vocalist Koen Mattheuws, as lead guitarist is Ruben Dhaene, rhythm guitarist is Ewoud Herragat, bassist is Frederick Vans Wynsberge and drummer Clint Dusslier. As it has been four years since I reviewed their second album, I took the opportunity to catch up with the vocalist Koen Mattheuws to ask how the band came together, what inspired him to join the band, how their albums have made an impact and of course what they are up to now.

Koen - Hi Andrew! It's our pleasure, thanks for the opportunity to do this interview.

Koen - My first memories go all the way back to when I was a little kid. At my parents house the radio was playing most of the time. My mom was an avid fan of Roy Orbison & Queen to name a few, while my dad liked to listen to music of The Beatles, The Kinks, The Stones, The Beach Boys, The Bee Gees, ... I liked to toy around with the records of my parents. When I became older I started digging into music of my own. I can recall The Offspring's Self Esteem as one of the first songs with louder guitars that intrigued me. Must have been 10 - 11 years old by then. A few years later I got into Nirvana and Metallica, as well as the emerging nu metalbands. That opened a whole world to me! It's never been only about thrash metal, but the genre stayed with me over the years nevertheless!

Koen - From 2009 onwards I played in a Dutch band called Incarnate. In 2013 the band and I went our separate ways. Early 2014, my brother showed me an advert online. A young local Flemish (I am Dutch, but live in Belgium, close to the border) was looking for a vocalist. Not actively searching for a band, it peaked my interest though. I contacted them, we did a few rehearsals together and the vibe seemed right. That's over 11 years, 2 full albums, some singles and a whole lot of live shows by now!

Koen - I like to think so, yes! I like the energy of Demockracy, but in my opinion News Feed is a more focused album. We still play songs from both records live, so it's not like we look down on Demockracy in any way. They're just different. Both records reflect where we were as a band in the respective periods of time.

Koen - There's this thing called WOA Metal Battle. Countries from all over the world can select a band to participate in this battle that takes place at the actual Wacken Open Air Festival. In Belgium we participated in the preselections. In the preliminary round we qualified for the Belgium finals. Out of the eight bands in the Belgian finals we won and were thus selected to play at Wacken Open Air 2019! Of course, for an underground band like ourselves, that's a dream come true. I had to pinch myself to believe it. At the festival, we were lucky to be given a prime time spot. We were set to play the History stage Wednesday evening at 22h00. During the day there was a storm and few shows were cancelled. Our show had a delay of 50 minutes, so at 22h50 we played our half hour of power! The tent was loaded with people and afterwards we heard people outside the tent were stopping to watch the screens to see us play. Afterwards we enjoyed the rest of the festival. It's crazy really. We had our shirts for sale at the Wacken merch booth. To see your own shirt between shirts from bands like Slayer, Opeth and Parkway Drive is insane. We even had people coming up to us, complimenting us with our show, while wearing their freshly bought Primal Creation merch! It's a once in a lifetime experience. We thought. Because August 9th 2025 we are playing the Alcatraz Festival in Belgium. Very much looking forward to that one!

Koen - Demockracy is a play on words. In this day and age where societies and politics are decaying at an alarming rate, democracy sometimes seems nothing more but pure mockery to me. The album cover (made by the amazing Italian artist Fabio Listrani) kind of portrays this. Vote Clown pt 1 and pt 2 are perhaps the most in your face nudges to the theme of the album. You can find said clown in the album cover as well. At the time of our Wacken Open Air run we had a clown on stage during the song Vote Clown.

Koen - Yes, he's kind of the go to studio in our region for metal, hardcore, punk, rock bands. Our friends in Devastatiön recorded with Francis at his studio for example. Francis is very accessible and flexible. One of the upsides is that his studio is very close to where we live, so we can drop by in the evening for some hours of recording. Next to that and most importantly, he gets the best out of us as recording artists and we're very happy with the sound he creates.

Koen - There can be a lot! First that comes to mind: I'm a big fan of Between the Buried and Me. All the crazy ideas they succeed to integrate in their metal baffles me. Power Trip pops up in my head as well: the pure power of Blake Ibanez's riffs would be a blessing to work with.

Koen - We had a stable line-up for about 10 years. Our rhythm guitarist Cédric couldn't find the time and energy for the band anymore and decided to step aside early 2024. We searched for a new guitar player for a while without success. In the meanwhile we made sure to keep on playing live so as to not fade away. At one of these gigs our roadie Frederik picked up the bass as he did some years ago for a one-off replacement as well. Our then bass player Ewoud, is kind of a multi-instrumentalist though. And so the pieces fit; Ewoud moved over to rhythm guitar, while Frederik (at the end of his soccer career and in dire need of a new hobby) joined Primal Creation as permanent bass player! What helps is that we've known him for a long time. In our experience, as a band it's very important to get along well.

Koen - We haven't been on a literal tour, but we played quite a few Belgian festivals. Earlier this year we had the pleasure of opening Antwerp Metal Fest which had bands over like Madball, Cancer & Sinister. In 2023 we had the honour of opening the Oilsjt Omploft Festival for a.o. Warbringer and Evil Invaders. Furthermore, in the past we opened club shows for D.R.I., Skeletonwitch, ... And so this year in August we're playing the Alcatraz Festival (Kreator, Machine Head, Mastodon, ...). As far as we're concerned; as long as we have passion for the band, the sky is the limit!

Koen - We had some live videos on YouTube, but in the existence of Primal Creation we never recorded a full blown videoclip. As Not In My Backyard was a stand alone single, it seemed the perfect opportunity to make this work. We contacted Yarne Heylen (Carnation) and he shot the video with us in a deserted brewery. Shooting a video is hard work I recall! But in the end we were very pleased with the result. As a band we learned a lot that day as well. In terms of views the video did quite alright for a small band like ourselves!

Koen - It was the first song we wrote and recorded without Cédric. Whereas Not In My Backyard was a straight up full blown thrash grenade, in Fool Me Twice we tried something different. It still is 100% Primal Creation and in your face though. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so go and check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m0SZCvDZNE

Koen - We have lots of shows planned throughout Belgium in the coming months. Keep an eye out for our social media and website to stay up to date concerning where we play. We just released Fool Me Twice earlier this year as a stand alone single, but we are in effect always writing new music, so there will be more new songs in a matter of time!

Koen - You are very welcome! It was a pleasure. Be sure to check us out online at Spotify, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and our website https://vi.be/primalcreation. Cheers!