{"id":609721,"date":"2026-08-31T01:30:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T01:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/609721\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T01:30:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T01:30:16","slug":"were-the-arctic-monkeys-trying-to-play-slayer-meet-ronker-the-belgians-who-ditched-indie-for-thumping-hardcore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/609721\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;We\u2019re the Arctic Monkeys trying to play Slayer.&#8221; Meet Ronker, the Belgians who ditched indie for thumping hardcore"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"elk-fd1b97c2-a215-11f1-a7c8-99bf2a6d3733\">In terms of bizarre musical ideas, indie for metal fans is right up there. But the healing process between the tribes might just have been given a kickstart in Belgium of all places.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, indie for metalheads, you heard me right,\u201d laughs Ronker vocalist and guitarist Jasper De Petter. \u201cYou could almost say that we\u2019re the Arctic Monkeys trying to play Slayer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-fd1b97c2-a215-11f1-a7c8-99bf2a6d3733-2\">Let\u2019s back up a minute. Formed during lockdown in 2020 when the members were feeling the frustrations of not being able to tour with their various bands, Ronker were initially nothing more than an outlet to shake off the grim reality of being trapped indoors.<\/p>\n<p>Latest Videos From Louder<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all come from a world of post-rock and melancholic indie,\u201d Jasper tells us. \u201cDuring lockdown, I just couldn\u2019t get my head around the situation, so when we got in a room, we started to play that music, but it came out with so much frustration and anger it was just like\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Indie fans playing metal? \u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>            You may like<\/p>\n<p>Having realised that they were getting more from their new side-project than they were their other bands, Ronker became the members\u2019 number one concern. Superb second album Respect the Hustle, I Won\u2019t Be Your Dog Forever comes on like Every Time I Die fist-fighting Franz Ferdinand with Idles as the special guest referee. It\u2019s a weird mix, with Jasper happily describing Ronker as \u201cheavy, cathartic music\u201d. He also credits his sobriety as a big reason for his band\u2019s sound.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI used to write fucked-up,\u201d he shrugs. \u201cBut I wrote this last album sober. I learned a lot about songwriting and opening up \u2013 it focuses your mind, it made me more pointed, more blunt. Which, I believe, in turn makes it heavier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<p>Whatever the genre, making it heavier is always an approach we approve of. Welcome, boys.<\/p>\n<p>Respect The Hustle, I Won&#8217;t Be Your Dog Forever is out now via Labelman.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-fd1b9934-a215-11f1-b313-174dba7ec40f\">Sounds Like: Idles refereeing a cage-match between Arctic Monkeys and Slayer <br \/>For Fans Of: Idles, Refused, The Chariot<\/p>\n<p>RONKER &#8211; No Sweat (Official Video) &#8211; YouTube<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1788139816_355_maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"RONKER - No Sweat (Official Video) - YouTube\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"watch-on-youtube-Y3-RtbWEDnA\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Y3-RtbWEDnA\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Y3-RtbWEDnA\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"bands-artists\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In terms of bizarre musical ideas, indie for metal fans is right up there. But the healing process&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278],"class_list":["post-609721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}