Vitamin X (abbreviated VX) is a Dutch

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

band from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

formed in 1997. Their sound is characterized by hardcore punk mixed with thrash metal, 1970s rock riffs and guitar solos. The members are

straight edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated as sXe or signified by XXX or simply X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs in reaction to the punk subculture's excesses. Some ...

but this does not reflect their lyrics or music. Their current line-up consists of four members: Marko Korac (vocals), Alex Koutsman (bass guitar), Danny Schneiker (drums), and Marc Emmerik (songwriter, guitar). Known for their socio-political lyrical themes and energetic live performances, the band recorded several seminal full-length albums and singles on various international labels, including US label Havoc Records. The band has completed multiple tours of North America, South America, Europe, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Mexico, and Russia. In 2001 and 2004 they played

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...

's, New York to a sold-out crowd. At a 2006

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

live studio performance in Brasil a riot broke out after the band smashed their instruments. Their 2008 album ''Full Scale Assault'' was recorded in Chicago by

Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...

, famous for recording

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

and

The Stooges The Stooges or Iggy and the Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexande ...

, Led Zeppelin's

Page and Plant Page and Plant (also known as Jimmy Page & Robert Plant) were an English rock band active between 1994 and 1998. The group consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant (both formerly of English rock band Led Zeppelin), accompanie ...

Neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...

, etc. Featuring a guest appearance by Negative Approach singer John Brannon and artwork by John Baizley of

Baroness Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight ...

. It received critical acclaim from publications such as ''

Metal Maniacs ''Metal Maniacs'' was an American magazine that was based around heavy metal music. History Founded in 1989 by Mike 'G' Greenblatt and Katherine Ludwig of Metal Shop. Where its sister publication '' Metal Edge'' largely covered glam metal, ''Met ...

'', '' Maximumrocknroll'', ''

Profane Existence Profane Existence is a Minneapolis-based anarcho-punk collective. Established in 1989, the collective publishes a nationally known zine (also called ''Profane Existence''), as well as releasing and distributing anarcho-punk, crust, and grindco ...

'', ''

Suburban Voice ''Suburban Voice'' is a punk zine A punk zine (or punkzine) is a zine related to the punk subculture and hardcore punk music genre. Often primitively or casually produced, they feature punk literature, such as social commentary, punk poetr ...

'', ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'', and many more, several of them naming it as one of the best hardcore punk albums of 2008/2009. In 2012 they released the album ''About to Crack'', also recorded by

and artwork by John Baizley. Besides touring around the world the band plays for 10,000s of people on some of the biggest heavy music festivals. They headlined

Fluff Fest Fluff Fest was an independent hardcore punk festival held each July at the Czech town of Rokycany. A significant event for the DIY music scene of Czechia and the punk subculture of Europe, it was associated with movements such as veganism, ana ...

several times, as well as

Exit Exit(s) may refer to: Architecture and engineering * Door * Portal (architecture), an opening in the walls of a structure * Emergency exit * Overwing exit, a type of emergency exit on an airplane * Exit ramp, a feature of a road interchange A ...

, Obscene Extreme, Resist to Exist, and many more. In 2012 they play Europe's biggest 'extreme music festival'

Hellfest Hellfest (), also known as Hellfest Summer Open Air, is a rock festival focusing on heavy metal music, held annually in June in Clisson, France. Its high attendance makes it the French music festival with the largest turnover. It is also one o ...

featuring acts such as

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

but also punk acts like GBH, Discharge,

Tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

and

Refused Refused (also known as the Refused) is a Swedish hardcore punk band originating from Umeå and formed in 1991. Refused is composed of vocalist Dennis Lyxzén, guitarist Kristofer Steen, drummer David Sandström, and bassist Magnus Flagge. Guita ...

. In 2013 they were among the headliners of the Baltimore Soundstage at Maryland Deathfest, the biggest fest of its kind in North America, playing together with Infest, The Melvins,

Carcass Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to: * Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc. *Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being, also c ...

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

Pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle around ...

. After playing at 2014's Temples Fest in Bristol they again played Hellfest in 2015 with

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Idol achieved fame in the 1970s on the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of Generation X ...

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

, and

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

. In 2018 they sign for

Southern Lord Records Southern Lord is an American heavy metal record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson. It initially specialized in experimental metal: particularly doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal. The label later expanded its line-up to ...

and release their sixth album ''Age of Paranoia'' featuring

J Mascis Joseph Donald Mascis Jr. (born December 10, 1965), better known as J Mascis, is an American musician who is the singer, guitarist and main songwriter for the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. He has also released several albums as a solo artist a ...

of Dinosaur Jr and Bubba Dupree of Void and

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially ...

Discography

Studio Albums *2000 ''See Thru Their Lies'' *2002 ''Down The Drain'' *2004 ''Bad Trip'' *2008 '' Full Scale Assault'' *2012 '' About To Crack'' *2018 '' Age Of Paranoia'' EPs *1998 ''Straight Edge Crew'' *1999 ''Once Upon a Time...'' *2001 ''We Came Here For Fun'' *2001 ''People That Bleed'' *2003 split 7-inch with Blind Society (King Friday) *2003 ''Random Violence'' (Japanese tour CD, Good Luck) *2005 ''Rip It Out'' (Havoc) They have also released multiple "best of" collections and discography tapes, mainly for overseas tours.

Members

* Marko Korac – vocals * Marc Emmerik – guitar, songwriter * Alex Koutsman – bass * Danny Schneiker – drums

Former members

* Geert Jan – drums * Wimmy "Zero" Koster – drums * Paolo G. - drums * Boka ( Ratos De Porao) – drums * Johan X – drums * Wolfi – drums * Eric 'Sunk' Ankersmit – guitar

References

External links

Vitamin X US tour
at Punknews.org
Vitamin X – Bad Trip
at ScenePointBlank
Vitamin X Interview in Podcast
at Punk.by {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1997 Straight edge groups Dutch rock music groups