VITAMIN X

OK, it’s time for me to live up to my Hypocritic Oath and be a Doctor! What is it that every person needs to stay in shape? Calcium? For sure…drink milk! Potassium? Eat a banana! Iron? Now that’s something anyone who calls themself a metalhead needs…I suggest a main course of JUDAS PRIEST, with occasional doses of SAXON and MOTÖRHEAD. But what does a body really need to go into overdrive? The answer is simple…VITAMIN X!

VITAMIN X, found in the Netherlands, offers a great jolt of punk energy mixed with the healthy vitality of thrash and a huge dose of attitude. For 30 years, the wild men of VITAMIN X have been making people get up and move with that sharp-edged thrashpunk. Their video “About To Crack” has been seen by millions and their new record “Ride The Apocalypse” is set to ignite pits across the world.

To get the secrets of VITAMIN X’s healthy regime, I talked to bassist Alex Koutsman, who was more than happy to pump me up…

WORMWOOD CHRONICLES: Greetings to VITAMIN X, it’s an honor to speak to you! The band has now been going for more than 25 years! Did you imagine in the late 90’s that you would still be going strong in 2026?

ALEX KOUTSMAN: Actually in 2026 we’re celebrating our 30 years of existence, and no, we absolutely did not think we’d be still going and putting out records. But society and politics keeps the anger flowing and fuels our desire to write and perform furious music.

WC:What would you say has changed for you the most since the beginning…besides your actual ages, that is?

AK: The scene has gone through many changes since then, but VITAMIN X is forever.

I would say that nowadays I feel more hopeless about the state of the world. Late 90s and early 00s, it felt like the world was moving towards some kind of more empathetic, environmentally friendly and social place with worldwide movements against capitalism and war. Nowadays it feels like we’re regressing to the darkest times in human history.

“Ride the Apocalypse” is basically our way of saying it feels like we’re all strapped to a machine that’s racing toward disaster — climate breakdown, nonstop wars, massive inequality, and narcissistic, far-right leaders popping up all over the place. What’s wild is how normal it’s all treated. Governments, big companies, public figures — they just carry on like everything’s fine, as long as the money keeps flowing and the system keeps humming.

WC: Your last album before “Ride The Apocalypse” was “Age of Paranoia” in 2018. Do some of the tracks on the new album date back to then or are they relatively recent?

AK ; No, we have created all these songs anew. I think you can hear it in the music and lyrics, it’s more dark and aggressive.

WC:Did you approach the writing and recording of “Ride The Apocalypse” in a different way than what you’ve done before or do you stick to tried and true methods?

AK: The writing is basically the same as we always do it: Marc comes up with a lot of songs, and I contribute some songs as well. Then I practice them with Marc, our guitarist, where I play drums on his songs and he on mine. We record that and then everybody can listen to those songs and pick their favorites. And then we practice the best songs with the whole band.  We typically have more songs than we need for the album, so we also record 4-5 songs more, and then listen to which came out the best. Sometimes you have an idea for the song in your head, but it turns out better or worse on recording.

WC: You got Joel Grind of TOXIC HOLOCAUST to master the new album. How closely did you consult with him on the mix? Or did you just trust him to do his best?

AK: The mix was done by Igor Wouters, who recorded us in Amsterdam as well, which we then sent to Joel who’s an old friend. He really hit it out of the park, as we basically had almost no remarks after hearing his master. It sounds huge and in your face and powerful, and I’m sure you will like it.

WC:Is there one track on “Ride The Apocalypse” that you are most proud of or drawn towards?

AK: I actually really like the title track “Ride The Apocalypse”, as it has this Mad Max feel to it, where the world is hurling into the apocalypse with an ever increasing speed. It also has really cool parts for drums and bass and guitar.

Another favourite of mine is “Fear”, that I wrote, that talks about the culture of fear being propagated and used to put people against each other. But at the same it’s defiant and says we won’t be silenced. Musically it’s also quite different from other songs, mixing some DANZIG feel with some anthemic punk.

WC:Your video “About To Crack” has become hugely iconic and has millions of views. What do you think about the success of this vid? It really seemed to catch lightning in a bottle.

AK: That video has been a great success for us, as well as for the maker Marco IMOV studios, which has won some nominations/prizes at animation festivals. The video is just so full of energy and has so many cool details, and really brings the song to the next level. I think many people feel trapped in their job and their life under late stage capitalism, and feel connected to the skater character that breaks free and goes for a ride. We’re working on another video with Marco, so stay tuned.

WC: You fellows are known to have the straight edge lifestyle but it isn’t a huge part of your lyrics. Does it play a big part in your longevity? And how tough is it to maintain that life on the road?

AK: I actually wonder how other bands who are not sxe maintain their life on the road. I mean it can be exhausting enough without having to cure a hangover every morning. So I think it probably helps us stay more healthy and friendly on the road.

Our longevity is harder to answer, I think that has more to do with the fact that we keep evolving and growing ourselves both musically and mentally, and setting new challenges for ourselves that keep things interesting. And it’s also important to have fun in music… you should not be doing this to make money or to impress others, so have some fun with it and don't take yourself too seriously.

WC: Are any of you involved in other bands or projects or is VITAMIN X pretty much your only musical outlet?

AK: No, we are all in other bands and projects.

Me (Alex), I play bass in PARANOID STATE, a HUSKER DU worshipping power trio.

Marc, guitar,  used to play in DEMON EYES, a 70s hard rock inspired band, and is the co-director of the Grauzone festival focussing on postpunk and new wave.

Marko, vocalist, plays in OPEN WOUNDS and a brand new band CONTROLLED ILLUSION.

.Danny, drummer, plays also in NÃO a d-beat hardcore band from Bremen, and DIE MIMMIS, who are a legendary German punk band started in the 80s.

WC: What were some of the bands and albums that attracted you to fast and thrashy music?

AK: I got into punk and hardcore in mid 90s, with all kinds of subgenres from metalcore to power violence going through hype cycles. But the band and song that really sealed the deal for me was “Ignorant” by URBAN WASTE. I would play that song on repeat for months, as it was on a compilation in-between really horrible bands. Then I got my first hardcore album from Marko (VX singer) for my 15th birthday, which was the MINOR THREAT discography, and I never looked back.

WC: Are there any new or interesting bands you’d like to mention or shout out to?

AK: There are so many great bands out there.I wanna give a shout out to our friends NIGHT FEVER, who released the best record of 2024. 

I’ve also listened a lot to ELECTRIC CHAIR and CHAIN WHIP, that both were great live as well.

A salute to MEANING from Japan, that helped organize our last tour there.

KRIME from Netherlands are a cool new band with some of our old friends.

SAVAGE BEAT are our buds from Amsterdam, more on the r’n’r/street-oi side of things, with multiple ex-members of VX, who’re putting out a new record next month.

Finally GOLPE from Italy is a side-project from a good friend of ours with great political lyrics and angry ferocious music.

WC:You guys are known to be real road dogs and have played thousands of shows. Which ones stand out in your mind?

AK: Damn, so many stand out.

Our first tour of US in 2001, we played a sold-out show at CBGBs as the 3rd show of the tour with TEAR IT UP, LAST IN LINE, KILL YOUR IDOLS and DEATH BY STEREO. We were so fucking nervous, but just gave it all and people liked it.

Last show on our South East Asia tour in Indonesia was super wild, as the kids broke down the doors to the venue while we were still doing the sound check before our show. It was super hot and super savage.

Brainsqueeze fest in Oakland, organised by Scotty Tankcrimes, was great as it was such a community of friends and all the bands kicked ass. 

WC: Do you have any touring plans for “Ride The Apocalypse”? Any chance of playing in the States?

AK: We would love to come back to the States, but the political and border control situation is making it pretty difficult. We know several bands that were sent back, because they didn’t have the right documents, or people not being allowed to enter because their social media said something against the orange schmuck in the white house. But get in touch, if you want us to come play your festival or tour, we’re down.

We are of course gonna tour with the album. We have a bunch of festivals and shows lined up in Europe for this year. We’re also going to play some shows in Central Asia, where we’ve never been before, in countries like Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

WC:You guys must have had a “Spinal Tap” moment where everything went wrong. Care to share any with us?

AK: Actually the movie “Spinal Tap” saved our asses once, as we were on tour in US. Our drummer got into an argument with Marko our singer, and he wanted to leave half way. So we had to drive him to the airport, and in the parking lot we were arguing and begging him for hours until security showed up. They started asking us what we were doing there, and where our accents were from. This was post 9/11 so everybody was pretty jumpy. Felix Havoc, who was our driver and record label boss at the time, walked over to the security guy and said “Have you ever seen Spinal Tap? This is Spinal Tap!”. The security guy had to laugh and let us be, and we managed to convince the drummer to stay and finish the tour.

WC:If you could have dinner with any three people from history, who would they be?

AK: I would wanna have dinner with Randy "Biscuit" Turner of the BIG BOYS, as they are probably my favorite band of all time and he seems like such a fun and brilliant guy.

Also I would love to to talk to Jimi Hendrix, around the time of "Band of Gypsys", probably the greatest live album ever. And maybe have a dinner with Lemmy and Billy Gibbons, that I briefly shook hands with at Hellfest once, but never got more than one minute.

WC: Any last words for the faithful?

AK: In the words of the amazing BIG BOYS, now go start your own band.

VITAMIN X