If you've been a reader of No Echo since the site launched a decade ago, there's probably a good chance you've come across my H8000-related articles.
If you haven't, and you're not familiar with that stylistic descriptor, H8000 signifies a scene and sound that came out of Belgium in the '90s via bands like Congress and Liar. The sound was a ferocious concoction of Slayer-like guitar riffs, dark lyrics, and the metallic side of East Coast hardcore. The style lives on today across the globe thanks to such bands as Gray State and Day of Salvation.
Another key group from the original H8000 era was Sektor. Formed in Beselare, Belgium, the band released an EP, one split, and a full-length in the mid-'90s and was a personal favorite from that scene.
Currently a member of Static Vision, Sektor bassist Wouter Cael, aka Lenny Sektor, indulged me by talking about the band's brief but fruitful run, his recollections of the H8000 scene, and its lasting influence.
I’ve never been to Belgium before. But since we’re around the same age, I’m curious to see what it was like growing up there in the ‘80s. How much of an influence did US and UK pop culture have on you as a kid?
As a kid, I did not really have an interest in music until I was 12-13. Then I started listening to pop music, and that evolved into hard rock later on. And yes, of course it was mainly American music that was popular for that time.
What was your introduction to hardcore? I would love to hear about some of the Belgian heavy bands you fucked with in those early years when you first got into it!
My love for heavy music started really around 14 years old with bands like Metallica and Megadeth. And than came Biohazard, Sick of It All, and Madball, etc.
So yeah, I then started checking Belgian hardcore bands too and got into the Belgian underground scene here. I was overwhelmed by Congress, of course. Other Belgian hardcore bands I loved back then included Regression, Blindfold, Shortsight, Spirit of Youth, Solid, Voices at the Front... too many to talk about!
When did you claim straight edge and become vegan?
I immediately was convinced to live that same lifestyle like they did. I became Straight Edge in 1995 and went vegetarian shortly after.
Was that considered a radical thing where you grew up?
After a year, I went vegan, and yes, it was really radical! My family did not understand it in the beginning. It was sort of like "not done." I was the crazy one (laughs).
While getting ready for this, I came across X Natural Order X. What can you tell me about that band? Was it the first band you played in that did anything?
Oh damn, I hoped this would not come up hahaha. But anyway, here it is.
It was like a kind of project, not my first band. They were already formed and I was added as a second guitar player. It featured two Spineless members, Buyse and Fifi, Visse, and Ronald. I guess it was in 1998. But noting much more to tell about. We did not play a lot of shows and never recorded anything in a studio. We only recorded a live demo, and I'm sure it's out there somewhere.
What’s the origin story of Sektor?
Before Sektor, we had a band called Black Spirit, played just some weird music (laughs). And when I got into that underground scene I wanted to reform our band into a real straight edge hardcore band. So we formed Sektor in September 1995. I went from guitar to bass and started with Pete (guitars) and Bert (drums), we did not have a singer then.
We went to a Regression gig and there was a guy singing a song with them and we immediately said that we needed him for Sektor. So Jerre joined the band and we got started. After the summer of 1996 we added a second guitar player, so Vadim joined us.
When you started writing together,what were some of the influences you brought into the mix?
I guess we did not care about influences then, we just made music what came out of our hands. But I guess you can hear we listened to a lot of metal.
Since the band was named after a character in Mortal Kombat, I have to ask, were you guys big gamers?
I was really not a gamer. But Jerre played a lot of Mortal Kombat and he came up with the band name. And it was perfect for us.
Do you remember when “H8000” first started getting mentioned within the scene there? What was the vibe like at shows during that era and Sektor’s early days?
When I got into the scene, H8000 was already getting mentioned. For the people that don’t know what it stands for, 8000 is the area code for West-Flanders (province), and of course, the "H" stands for hate.
Shows were energetic and really crazy. Every show was packed, no horseshoe stuff, no crowd killing, no karate. Pile-ons, sing-alongs, hard moshing, stage dives, etc. Every show was amazing during that era.
I think it’s safe to say that without Hans Verbeke had a lot of influence on the H8000 era. How did Sektor end up working with his Sober Mind Records label? For those readers who might know it, the label also released titles by such bands as Blindfold, Lifecycle, and Spirit of Youth.
Hans was like the H8000 boss, he picked up bands gave them chances. He was one of the H8000 founders. Without him, our hardcore scene would have been so much different, and Sektor might have never be mentioned today.
Shortly after our first show as Sektor, he came to us and told he wanted to bring our music out on Sober Mind. It really went that fast. He played in great bands like Blindfold and Liar as well.
READ MORE: H8000 Hardcore: 10 Records That Helped Define the Movement, by Hans Verbeke
What are some memories you can share about the material and making of the Ultimate Threat EP? I’ve always heard a certain Integrity influence on that record.
We just made songs on rehearsals, old-school style. We didn't think about it too much, just as it came out of our hands. Integrity had a big influence on us, we listened a lot to them. Also Ringworm had an influence. We kinda had the same vibe. It was a raw, unpolished, and straight forward style.
Was Midas Studios sort of like what Sunlight Studios was for the bands in the original wave of Swedish death metal?
I guess so. Almost every H8000 band recorded there. It started with Congress (as far as I know) and then all of the other bands followed in their footsteps. It was always great recording there.
The next Sektor release was the split with Vitality, another band from that scene/era I quite enjoyed.
Vitality and Sektor were very good friends. I don’t remember how that split came to be. We played a lot of shows together, and did a winter tour with them across Germany and Czech Republic. It was always big fun and great shows with Vitality.
How much correspondence was the band engaging in with other bands/fans outside of Belgium, and especially here in the States? How active were you personally in that kind of stuff?
That time we did not have Internet or socials, so that was something different. We did not have a clue where they knew us.
I personally had the best connection with all the guys in Morning Again and Culture. There was a strong connection between Florida and H8000, and there still is. Sometimes we even wrote letters to each other (laughs).
There are newer bands in Florida that are very influenced by H8000: Contention, Miracle, Memento, Domain, and are a few.
I still remember getting a copy of Human Spots of Rust from a distro table at a hardcore show at a VFW Hall in New Jersey soon after it came out. I’ve always loved the kind of mid-tempo metallic hardcore groove that Sektor did so well. That’s the first time I heard the band and was an instant fan.
The writing of Human Spots of Rust was slightly different than Ultimate Threat. Vadim wrote a lot of those riffs, and he had a different style than Pete. But combined we had that typical Sektor sound again. Raw, full blast with groove.
How much gigging/touring did the band do in support of Human Spots of Rust, and did you notice the band/scene getting stronger during that last phase of Sektor’s original run?
We did a summer tour all around Europe to promote the album: Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy. The tour was with Facedown from Antwerp, and we did a 4-band run with Kindred and Culture for like 5 shows. Those were the best of times!
We also played every week, almost 2 or 3 shows. The scene was at it strongest that moment. They were always packed and energetic shows. Crazy stuff! On top of all that, we played the Ieperfest 1997 gig. Insane!
Why did Sektor break up?
Well, our singer Jerre decided in early 1998 he wanted to quit Sektor. There were a few lineup changes, so I became the vocalist. But that wasn’t the same anymore, so we called it done. We did not feel it anymore.
Sektor has since reunited on the live front. How did that end up happening?
We reunited in 2019 because in the previous years, Ieperfest already asked a few times if we wanted to a reunion show there. We always said no, never gonna happen. But in 2018, Regression did a reunion show. We all were there and the reunion conversation started.
So by the start of 2019, we started rehearsals again. Hans Verbeke had the idea to do the show together with a Liar reunion. And it happened in November that year in front of 1200 people from all over Europe. After that, we played Ieperfest 2022.
Can we expect any new Sektor music sometime in the future?
Hmm, I guess that will never happen. Nobody is waiting for that. And it would sound so much different.
What’s your favorite H8000-era record (EP or LP) and what makes it so special to you?
I think Blackened Persistance by Congress is the most important and Iconic H8000 LP that was made. No doubt about that.
But I have a few like Painfields from Spineless, Colors that Bleed by Spirit of Youth, and Bloodline by Vitality that are also up there. They all have that unique sound that makes them all so different from each other.
Thanks for chatting with me, Lenny.
Thank you to everybody who still listens to our music and for the worldwide support and appreciation. Listen to my new band, Static Vision. Self-promotion is not a bad thing (laughs)!
H8000 for life, Hardcore for life.
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Static Vision on social media: Instagram
Tagged: h8000, sektor, static vision
