Copenhell 2022 Copy | Clang Magazine

Heatwave is testing Europeans, and Copenhell is here to take the suffering to the next level. How did Hell manage to ensure safety for the festival goers when the participants are famous for loving to drink their weight in beer before jumping into moshpits?

Day 1: Dad rock day

I arrived at the festival area late afternoon and was immediately hit with overwhelming heat. I hope that everyone is staying hydrated and taking breaks in the shade whenever needed.

The first band I went to see was twenty one children, a skate-punk band from Johannesburg. They had fantastic energy, which kicked the day off perfectly. The gig worked as a little warm-up, because next I was going to case the moving stage. On it was performing a Copenhagen-based artist, St Digue, whom I had missed a couple of years ago. This is why I was ready to run around a little car-pulled stage that also happens to shoot fire. I really enjoyed the energy and how he was interacting with the crowd. The heat didn’t seem to bother anyone as we were all partying together.

After this, it was time to head to Pandemonium to see Loathe. This English heavy metal band plays more chill, traditional metal, and I find them a perfect addition to this year's lineup. Even in this heat, the crowd was feeling the energy, and I am not surprised. The band was pulling through stunningly and not seeming to be faced by the weather at all, inspiring the crowd to keep up with the vibe.

From more traditional metal to stoner music, which obviously means doom metal. I am not usually a fan of this genre at all, but Faetooth was my favorite band from Wednesday. I really enjoyed the music and high-energy performance. My favorite part was when, after singing, we could hear the vocalist speaking. The change from incredibly deep growling to very sweet, fairy-like speaking was amazing.

copenhell / jOE mILLER

I think I might be a bit traumatized by a certain 80s band from a couple of years ago, because my expectations for Alice Cooper were incredibly low. I was basically sure that he would sound horrible, and the energy just wouldn’t be there anymore. I am very happy to be proven awfully wrong! Alice’s show was full of camp, and he sounds the same as he always did. Sure, some of the choices were very questionable, like hitting a realistic-looking doll and dragging it around, but other than that, I had fun. I would say that if you happen to be a fan of Alice Cooper, it’s totally worth getting tickets to see the gig.

After Alice, I headed back to Gehenna to see Scimitar, a legend in the Copenhagen underground scene. I sadly don’t have a lot to say about them because they were hard to hear. I think maybe there were some issues with the tech, because I could mainly hear the drums. The band is great, so this was very unfortunate. To give my ears a break from the very heavy speakers, I went to see Slay Squad. The band combines hardcore and rap, and the outcome is very slay indeed. It wasn’t my favorite by any means, but it sounded good enough, I think.

The day’s main star was an absolute metal legend, Iron Maiden. The band sounds great and seems to have a good time on stage. I am sure that everyone who came to see them was very happy.

Trivium/ jOE mILLER

Day 2: Drama and theatre

Somehow, day two seems even more full than the previous day, and certainly hotter. I escaped the heat by visiting Copenhell Con and Dark Market. As every year, they had great vibes and much-needed shade. After the whole festival, I can say that Thursday was easily my favorite day.

Before having my little escape in the shade, I needed to go through the blazing sun, but I had a really good reason for it. The reason was Ice Nine Kills, an American band I have waited years to see. This metal band is inspired by horror movies and killer characters, using them for their songs and performances. I lost count of nerdy references very fast, and at the end of the gig, the body count had become so high that I have no idea how many fake murders I saw. Every song was like a mini movie, and I was enjoying all of them. Ice Nine Kills was easily my favorite concert on Thursday, and I really want to see them again.

After Ice Nine Kills, I managed to run to the other side of Hell to catch the last 30 minutes of Die Spitz. I hadn’t listened to this American band much before, but all of my friends were already fans. After hearing them, I am not surprised! The music was fantastic, and the energy was even better. Die Spitz jumped right onto my regular playlists.

The President has taken over the metal world by storm, gathering a huge number of fans in just a year. Because of this, I wasn’t surprised to see that the band managed to fill Pandemonium to the brim. They sounded great, but I think it was still missing something…

2026

Day 4: Silly Saturday

Saturday was the day for silly side adventures, and obviously, the storm, which ended up becoming famous.

As every year, I needed to see one power metal band during this Copenhell. This year, this important honor was given to the German/Austrian band Warkings. The band members were all fictional war heroes, dressed to the nines, obviously. The band was good, people were having a good time, but admittedly, I have seen better power metal bands.

After this, I checked a pop-rock band called Going for the One. They were ok, but that is kind of it. Maybe I am so used to seeing sigh energy fun punk bands in Boneyard that this was highlighted even more. The band was just a little whatever.

Thankfully, the energy was picked back up again by the Norwegian Trollfest. Seeing how the band looked in promo pictures, I was expecting the usual Norwegian metal band experience, but they completely surprised me. Every band member was dressed in pink, glitter, and flamingo floaties. The vocalist looked like Santa Claus in drag, which wasn’t even the campiest thing. The hour included a train led by a band member and a chicken dance in a moshpit. Super weird, but also extremely fun.

Now it was time to catch the moving stage’s other act this year, Cold Culture. Cold Culture is a Copenhagen-based post-hardcore band. I have known of them for some time, so I was very happy to finally hear them live. They put on a great show, and everyone was having a fantastic time. They had this great angsty vibe, which I would have been absolutely obsessed with when I was a teenager.

Later on, Vexed took the Gehenna stage. The band started the gig immediately with a big bang, showing off the vocalist’s incredible skills. She was growling basically non-stop, creating a fantastic headbanging vibe.

From headbanging, it was time to have a bit of a party, and this year’s party band was Alesstorm. The Scottish heavy metal band created an absolutely impeccable energy full of silliness. There were crowdsurfing ducks, rapping sharks, and ridiculous animations. All while singing about drinking beer and having a good time. We moshed, we rowed, and we had a f*cking great time.

I was roaming around a bit in the festival grounds before ending up at Gehenna just to catch the end of Eyehategod. The gig seemed really fun, and I kind of wished I had seen it from the beginning. So this is me reminding my future self to see Eyehategod, if I can.

The headliner of Saturday was a famous Danish band, Volbeat. I mainly wanted to see them because I used to listen to them as a teenager with my friend. They still sound nice, but nothing super exciting. At least the crowd was really vibing, and it was sad that the thunder forced the gig to end early.

During Volbeat, the sky finally ripped, and the festival goers got to experience a striking thunderstorm before the long-awaited rain finally came. Due to this, Volbeat’s gig was cut short, and the last concerts were postponed, but at least they did end up happening.

I was supposed to go see Babymetal, but after waiting for quite some time, I decided to head to Gehenna to see Chopper, and gosh, I am happy I did that. Chopper was a perfect ending for the festival, especially to finish off Saturday’s theme of silliness. The performance was campy and the music amazing; what more could you want as the last act?

And that was Copenhell 2026. The festival went pretty well, considering the heat. There were enough spots for everyone to get water and stuff to do in the shade as well. I hope everyone had a great festival, and nobody got too overheated from the sun.

CUT MY LIFE INTO PIECES, THIS IS MY LAST RESORT!

Yeah, it’s time for Papa Roach. The band has become proper papas now, bringing their offspring to the stage to have fun with them, which was cute, but also means that they are officially a dad rock band. Papa Roach’s gig was fun, but I wasn’t a fan of the ending with the metal time machine. It got old super fast, and I just wanted to hear their songs. This is also something I have noticed these older bands doing. They play their own popular songs and then covers from other bands? It almost seems like they don’t trust their own material to keep the fans happy. I am not a fan of this, and I hope this trend ends soon.

Of course, I needed to balance out an incredibly famous band with a completely new artist. To fix this need, I went to see a post-punk band, Calva Louise, which was really, really great. The vibe was great, and the music was amazing, so obviously the band took over Gehenna by storm. The music was combining hardcore punk with a fun disco vibe, creating an amazing outcome.

Then came the band I was the most excited to see, Bring Me the Horizon. I have wanted to see this band since I was a teenager, so my expectations were high. BMTH is famous for its live shows, combining visuals from big raves with pyro from metal shows, and ending with crowd interaction like most beloved indie stars. I was clearly expecting a lot, but Bring Me the Horizon delivered even more. The music was incredible, making me feel like a teenager all over again, the fan interaction even more fun and loving than I would have thought, and just overall an incredible hour and a half. I just didn’t want it to end, to be fully honest.

Copenhell/ jOE mILLER

Copenhell/ jOE mILLER

p.o.d/ jOE mILLER

DAY 3: HEAT and hangover - what a combination

Friday started rough with a sickening hangover, so the idea of heat and sand was immediately sending me to the pits of hell. Thankfully, I found a great way to get warmed up for the day - nice shadow while painting skulls and downing my energy drink. This is always something that Copenhell has done nicely; figured out things for people to do, regardless of what they might like, when they need a break from music.

Though I must mention, this year there was one thing I absolutely fucking hated. What was that stupid ass monster car that was literally doing nothing but ripping the gear until there was smoke everywhere? That was incredibly stupid, annoying, and full-on disturbing. I hope next year they have better ideas, bc this was just completely unnecessary.

OK, back to fun stuff… S.T.A.B. brought in the energy, even though it was ridiculously hot in Boneyard, where there is no shade for the crowd. This didn’t stop the punks from making a circle pit and a good old mosh pit. Maybe it was the hangover, maybe it was the heat, but I was very impressed by the stamina of people running around.

After S.T.A.B., I dragged my hangover ass to Gehenna, where I could finally sit in the shadow while waiting for the next band, Voice of Baseprot, to begin. I wasn’t familiar with them before, and I am so happy to now learn about them. This gig was easily my favorite one today. Not only was the musician’s skill level simply incredible, but they were honestly such pleasant people who managed to move absolutely everyone in the crowd. Even the next day, I was still talking with strangers about how their story moved us to tears.

Even though Voice of Baseprot was a high-energy gig, Paleface Swiss still managed to take it to the next level. The gig started with a kick, which swept the crowd away immediately. The energy didn’t dip even for a moment, quite the opposite. Somehow, the band and the crowd kept on getting more and more excited despite the heat. The crowd was going absolutely wild, creating huge mosh pits as if they weren't bothered by the heat or sand at all.

I went to quickly check Neckbreakker, who started to gain popularity originally in a Copenhell event some years ago. Now they have become so big that they are touring with Gojira and taking the big stage in Hell. I thought they were fine, but nothing to go crazy for.

Then we get to the main act of Friday, 15 Years in Hell. To be fully honest, I did not like it. It was clearly a cover-up for not getting a proper headliner for the day, and it felt like we were watching talented people doing karaoke. Sure, the artists were good, but overall, the whole thing was whatever. Also, according to Copenhell, the first time they were in Refshaleøen was in 2010, soooo it was actually the 16th year? Anyways, the whole thing was crap.

copenhell/ jOE mILLER

DAY 3: HEAT and hangover - what a combination

Friday started rough with a sickening hangover, so the idea of heat and sand was immediately sending me to the pits of hell. Thankfully, I found a great way to get warmed up for the day - nice shadow while painting skulls and downing my energy drink. This is always something that Copenhell has done nicely; figured out things for people to do, regardless of what they might like, when they need a break from music.

Though I must mention, this year there was one thing I absolutely fucking hated. What was that stupid ass monster car that was literally doing nothing but ripping the gear until there was smoke everywhere? That was incredibly stupid, annoying, and full-on disturbing. I hope next year they have better ideas, bc this was just completely unnecessary.

OK, back to fun stuff… S.T.A.B. brought in the energy, even though it was ridiculously hot in Boneyard, where there is no shade for the crowd. This didn’t stop the punks from making a circle pit and a good old mosh pit. Maybe it was the hangover, maybe it was the heat, but I was very impressed by the stamina of people running around.

After S.T.A.B., I dragged my hangover ass to Gehenna, where I could finally sit in the shadow while waiting for the next band, Voice of Baseprot, to begin. I wasn’t familiar with them before, and I am so happy to now learn about them. This gig was easily my favorite one today. Not only was the musician’s skill level simply incredible, but they were honestly such pleasant people who managed to move absolutely everyone in the crowd. Even the next day, I was still talking with strangers about how their story moved us to tears.

Even though Voice of Baseprot was a high-energy gig, Paleface Swiss still managed to take it to the next level. The gig started with a kick, which swept the crowd away immediately. The energy didn’t dip even for a moment, quite the opposite. Somehow, the band and the crowd kept on getting more and more excited despite the heat. The crowd was going absolutely wild, creating huge mosh pits as if they weren't bothered by the heat or sand at all.

I went to quickly check Neckbreakker, who started to gain popularity originally in a Copenhell event some years ago. Now they have become so big that they are touring with Gojira and taking the big stage in Hell. I thought they were fine, but nothing to go crazy for.

Then we get to the main act of Friday, 15 Years in Hell. To be fully honest, I did not like it. It was clearly a cover-up for not getting a proper headliner for the day, and it felt like we were watching talented people doing karaoke. Sure, the artists were good, but overall, the whole thing was whatever. Also, according to Copenhell, the first time they were in Refshaleøen was in 2010, soooo it was actually the 16th year? Anyways, the whole thing was crap.