The big review: Copenhell 2026

Set one foot into Copenhell and you’re transported into another realm: a Mad Max-esque parallel world of corrugated iron and vast gnarled, metallic structures. It feels like every square inch has been accounted for to fit in with the Very Metal aesthetic, from the bars held up by giant burnt matchsticks to the huge grim reaper statues to the Day Of The Dead flower arrangements to the dragon’s head that will breathe fire depending how loud you can scream. In the particularly visually realised Boneyard area, elaborately costumed steampunks and video game characters roam the grounds, alongside Monster Energy’s leather tattooists and chainstitch embroiders who not only offer demonstrations but will level-up all kinds of battle vests and festival fits. Monster’s own pro drifter Baggsy is also on-hand to perform smoke-filled burnouts to the cheering masses.

And, of course, there’s the music. Spread across four stages, thanks to some clever booking, there are very few serious clashes and bands are afforded much longer sets than usual – even the newer bands on the fourth stage are given 40-plus minutes to prove themselves. It all makes for one hell of a jam-packed four days in the Danish capital; a sensory overload of all things metal (and a lot of dust).

Here’s what went down at one of the best fests of the year so far.

In the lush, wooded surrounds of the Gehenna stage, the more sun-averse attendees of Copenhell seek refuge in the shadows around the sides, but down front, Twenty One Children are bringing serious heat to rival the giant flaming ball in the sky. Hailing from Soweto in South Africa, the righteous punks are as unapologetically raw as they come, speeding through shout-along choruses with unbridled passion and infectious energy. Cramming in as many songs as possible (which comes naturally when some clock in at less than 30 seconds), the trio regale Copenhagen with songs about real-life altercations with the police and gang crime hotspots in their hometown, all moving at 100mph with throat-shredding ferocity. They might not be the biggest name here this weekend, but the impact TOC leave is indelible. Keep an eye on this band.

“I know it’s hot, but I’m gonna need a circle-pit for this next one” urges Kadeem France to the sizeable crowd at Copenhell’s third stage, who swiftly kick up the heaps of grey dust into a visible cyclone of destruction. Earlier today, Loathe hit the cover of Kerrang! ahead of their superb new album A Stranger To You, and hearing these long-awaited new tracks through Pandæmonium’s beefed-up PA with a fired-up Kadeem wrenching the most caustic of vocals out of his lungs only makes you wish the record would hurry up and get here. One of the most unique and ambitious entities in alternative music right now, Loathe are poised to take things to the next level. Expect them to be on the main stage when they return.

You just can’t fuck with Alice Cooper. At 78 years old, he remains an absolute badass and clearly still loving every minute onstage, navigating his way through various costume changes and set-pieces, all with that iconic tar-thick eye make-up sneering out from the giant Helviti stage. Strutting his way through a legit greatest hits set that spans everything from Feed My Frankenstein to Poison to the timeless coming-of-age anthem Eighteen, these are songs tattooed on the brains of rock fans across the globe, and here in the Danish capital they hit as hard as ever. Although we’re missing Alice’s trademark antics with a snake, the guillotine routine is still cause for raising a Tuborg to the sky, and the twin attack of School’s Out and a sleazed-up cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit is the perfect closing salvo for a genuine rock’n’roll hero.

As life coaches go, you could do worse than Mike Muir. The Suicidal Tendencies frontman has lived quite the life and come out the other side, and now finds himself dropping pearls to fans many, many miles from home. “There will never be a shortage of people trying to fuck with you,” he says to the hardcore lifers. “You could get your cameras out or you could live your life,” he offers later, while calling for a wall of death, encouraging people to be in the moment.

Having been at it for more than four-and-a-half decades now, Suicidal have undergone a fair few changes in that time, notably with Dillinger’s Ben Weinman and wunderkind Tye Trujillo now amongst the ranks on guitar and bass respectively, but the power of Mike has endured, and still hurls himself around stage with the same vitality and maniacal energy as the ‘80s. “This is your world, your life, you make it happen,” he signs off with hundreds of fans storming the stage for the emphatic Pledge Your Allegiance, as Copenhagen loudly and proudly salutes a legend of the game who continues to do it his own way.

In Kerrang!’s recent Cover Story interview with Iron Maiden, frontman Bruce Dickinson explained that he simply couldn’t go onstage if he was unable to perform to the high standards that he has set himself. Thankfully it seems those days are a way off yet, as not only does the man with the air raid siren voice appear onstage in fine form, he – and the rest of Maiden – are giving it some serious welly.

Perhaps spurred on by the fact they were unable to finish their previous show in Paris due to power outages, and couldn’t give fans the full shebang, the heavy metal legends have the bit between their teeth and bulldozing through their career-spanning set with unmitigated power.

“You’ve all heard it before, but not in this order,” Bruce jokes, nodding to the fact that this Run For Your Lives jaunt is the globe-straddling 50-year celebration of Maiden, pulling together all of their biggest hits from over the decades – from 2 Minutes To Midnight to Phantom Of The Opera to a surprisingly early in the set Number Of The Beast – as well as unearthing Infinite Dreams for the first time in 38 years. And even if the 35,000-strong crowd have heard it all before, it does nothing to lessen the impact, as dust clouds are kicked up in the joyously bouncy circle-pits from the very beginning of opener Murders In The Rue Morgue, and a deafening singalong for Run To The Hills rings out across Copenhell.

Read our full review of Iron Maiden at Copenhell.

It’s a curious quirk of festivals sometimes, when the headliner isn’t actually the final set. And while Iron Maiden are indeed a rather tough act to follow, few bands are as up to the task as Mastodon. As Crazy Train blasts over the PA and Brann Dailor settles behind his kit in an Ozzy Osbourne vest, the stage is engulfed in flames for Tread Lightly and seemingly never lets up for the entirety of the Atlanta heavyweights’ hour-long set. Dipping into all nooks and crannies of their catalogue, from The Motherload to Black Tongue to Crystal Skull, it’s deafening proof that Mastodon are one of the very best metal bands on the planet, and are simply incapable of making a bad record. And an airing of new track Your Ghost Again – dedicated to the late Brent Hinds – adds even more excitement for the as-yet-unannounced ninth album. Truly a very special band.

“If you’re not banging your head, you better be fucking dead!” yells Chase Mason to the sunbaked masses who are apparently not wrecking their necks enough for his liking, but he needn’t worry as the pummelling onslaught quickly gets the muscles moving. Standing front and centre in shades and a Sisters Of Mercy tee, the Gatecreeper frontman looks ready for a fight, but prefers to deal in sonic violence rather than physical, sending circle-pits into overdrive with their crunching, clobbering death metal. There are few better ways to start day two of a festival than with some riffs in the sunshine, and those served straight from the Arizona desert hit the spot just right today.

Even amongst fans waiting for Die Spitz to come onstage, there is confusion as to how their name is actually pronounced – is it like ‘dee’ or ‘dye’? We’re reliably informed it is the latter, but what isn’t up for debate is just how good the Texan four-piece are. Having burst onto the scene last year with the excellent Something To Consume, they’ve skyrocketed in momentum and attract the largest crowd of the weekend to Gehenna thanks to their cool AF blend of snarling punk and bleached-out grunge. “It smells like a diaper up here,” they deadpan on the understated stage, without so much as a backdrop, opting for all-black surrounds and cranked volume to get themselves heard. Two nights from now they’ll be supporting Foo Fighters at Anfield, but this afternoon belongs to them.

As the silhouette of a dead cockroach beams out from the screens that surround the main stage, a huge crowd to rival that of a headliner has gathered to witness one of the great rejuvenations in modern metal. Much like their other nu-metal brethren, the California heavyweights are enjoying a resurgence in popularity. Welcome to the Papa Roanaissance.

As huge plumes of fire rise into the sky and Jacoby Shaddix stands at the end of the walkway like a superstar, this feels less like a support slot and more a declaration of intent that the Roach are here to claim Copenhell for themselves. Armed with a litany of bona fide bangers – from Dead Cell that sees an ocean of fists pumping to the whoa-tastic mosh anthem …To Be Loved to the chant-along favourite Getting Away With Murder – the band are firing on every available cylinder and soaking in all of the energy being thrown their way, rampaging through the set with all the gusto that would suggest they’re closing the show. And with the masterstroke of the Nu-Metal Time Machine, that sees them bulldoze through Blind, My Own Summer, Break Stuff and Chop Suey!, giving way to generational anthem Last Resort, you’d be hard-pushed to find a more brilliantly fun 10-minute segment this weekend. Long may this revival continue.

Three hours before Bring Me The Horizon hit the stage, they dropped the highly-anticipated new track Dehumanized, an absolute pulveriser that throws back to their more br00tal beginnings. And yet tonight is about looking firmly forward, proving yet again what is possible when your ambition and imagination know no bounds.

Drenched in an incredibly realised Playstation aesthetic, the performance not only starts with a riff on the opening PS1 graphics to reflect Horizon’s Post Human era, but there are even end credits and high score rankings upon the night’s conclusion. Heavily inspired by the likes of Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid, the retro graphics are just a tease for the feast of hyperreal animations and cast of characters that guide us through the end of the NeX GEn research programme and beyond. This is more than a concert, this is a fully immersive experience.

Read our full review of Bring Me The Horizon at Copenhell.

With the old-school Trivium logo hanging overheard, it’s clear that the Floridian metallers are still revelling in the renewed love for Ascendancy after touring it for much of last year, but opening on Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr is downright dangerous. Matt Heafy screams and gurns like a man possessed, looking every bit as menacing as his riffs sound, weaving through fire that blasts like archers loosing arrows. Trivium have been visiting Denmark since 2005, and this is far and away their biggest show yet on these shores: so overcome is Matt by the occasion that he announces a new album and tour onstage! But there’s simply no time to contemplate the future when right now is all about The Sin And The Sentence, Catastrophist and Like Light To Flies wreaking havoc down front. And as the monumental In Waves brings things to a crashing conclusion, all thoughts turn to when that tour might visit this part of the world again.

A man of few words, Maynard James Keenan simply describes today as “hot as fuck.” And he’s not wrong, as the mercury reaches 30ºC with no breeze in the air, it’s tough weather if you’re committed to being in a suit onstage for an hour. But the elements don’t affect the power and precision of A Perfect Circle, with the grandiose and expansive The Doomed nestled alongside the ever-building TalkTalk and colossal Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums, all with Maynard’s staggering vocals still capable of leaving jaws on the floor. They might not be the most moshy band on the main stage this weekend, but who needs bruises when you can surrender yourself to one of the most innovative bands in all of metal.

“Kill every fucking body!” orders a riled up Christoffer Kofoed, stalking the stage in front of a giant NECKBREAKKER banner and an even bigger crowd who are primed and ready to throw down to the Danish death metallers. In a flurry of confetti and flames, the homeland heroes speed through a punishing 50 minutes of mosh fodder, whipping the crowdsurfers into a frenzy. And while it’s an odd choice to include a drum solo in such a set, Viktor Bjørnsted (in Slipknot vest) channels his inner Joey Jordison with incredible speed, aggression and technicality that it doesn’t feel out of place. Treating Copenhell to two new songs, bludgeoning closer Silo sends their friends and family away in search of a well-earned sit down.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When your headline band cancels, make a karaoke party. After Twisted Sister were forced to pull out of all live activity due to Dee Snider’s health concerns, rather than trying to find a like-for-like replacement for the glam legends, Copenhell opened their phonebook and rallied together a who’s who of Danish metal including members of NECKBREAKKER, MØL, BAEST and Konvent, to put on the ultimate celebration of heavy music. Featuring guest turns from Anthrax’s Joey Belladonna for Deep Purple’s Highway Star and former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Gus G, who joins the party for Paranoid and No More Tears, it is joyous to be a part of, bellowing out songs that have become the foundations of this world that we love. Ace Of Spades, Everlong, I Wanna Rock, Break Stuff, and an incendiary Psychosocial led by the terrifying and brilliant Ditte Krøyer fill the dusty air with 30,000 voices in unison like the biggest rock club you’ve ever been to. Special mention should also go to DJ Noize whose astonishing ability to mix heavy music is like nothing we’ve seen before. In fact, none of this we have seen before, but here’s hoping there’s a 20-year celebration.

Much like Mastodon the previous night being dealt a slightly tricky hand, Anthrax have to pick up the mantle of following 40-odd musicians playing some of the biggest hits in rock and metal. Thankfully, the New York thrash legends have some tunes of their own to keep the party going into the night, from Madhouse to Caught In A Mosh to Indians, it’s a dirty dozen of fist-flying favourites for the faithful who’s stuck around to salute the east coast veterans. Hammered out with all the fury and fever that they can muster, tracks like Metal Thrashing Mad and the superb closing one-two of Antisocial and I Am The Law still hit like a breezeblock to the face.

Getting things moving on a mercifully slightly cloudier final day is a razor-sharp slice straight out of the UK underground. Played with Slayer levels of intensity, Inhuman Nature’s crushing brand of thrashed-up death metal is pure drinking music and the ideal fuel to rev the pits into action. With frontman Chris Barling commanding the crowd to go ever harder like a twisted army general with a passion for punishment, brutalising tracks like Take Them By Force and Beyond The Realms Of Sanity are just the ticket. Deserving of a much bigger crowd today, make sure you catch Inhuman Nature next time they’re in town. Bring your moshing shoes.

“Pick a number between one and five,” an absolutely jacked Dani Winter-Bates asks a member of security at the barrier. “Two? Okay. I want two hundred crowdsurfers!” And within an instant the shoulders and necks of the front row are being pounded by bodies on top of bodies in what feels like should be a record for the festival. Because even though we’re on day four of a sun-caked long weekend, Copenhell is still ready to give everything they have to the Brit metalcore mainstays as they power through the likes of Black Flame, Cannibal and Bolt Cutter. Preaching an important message of inclusivity throughout, Dani eschews the usual sit-down-and-jump-up-again gimmick – joking “I know it’s the opposite of what every band does” – by urging everyone to stand up and say hello to the stranger next to them. It’s a sweet moment amongst the savagery, as friends new and old throw their horns into the sky for one of the most consistent metal bands touring today.

Like Inhuman Nature before them, Vexed are representing the southern side the British grassroots metal scene on the leafy Gehenna stage, led by vocalist Megan Targett’s frankly insane voice. Urging the women in the crowd to show Copenhell “how to headbang like a girl”, Megan threatens to unhinge her spine while patrolling the stage like she’s on the hunt for nothing but carnage. Opening a wall of death to the barbarous X My Heart (Hope To Die), for a band’s debut turn in the country, it’s a victorious, vicious reception. Vexed might have a 28-hour drive back home ahead of them (yes, really), but performances like this surely make it all worth it.

There’s a flash of fear in the eyes of Konan Hall. Rather than standing stage-left with his guitar like so many times before, today he is front and centre on vocals, leading the pack as frontman Alex Taylor has been forced to miss today due to a medical emergency. This is the second show Alex has ever missed, so today they’re taking things back to 2009, when Konan used to be the main man behind the mic. The nerves don’t last long, however, as the trepidation inside soon turns to a raging inferno in their bellies, with bassiast Wilkie barking orders at the ever-growing crowd to batter each other. And with the volume whacked up to levels not heard on this stage all weekend, it’s impossible to resist the chaos, as a wall of death opens all the way back to the sound tower for Karma, and the pit simply doesn’t stop writhing from them on.

“We never want to pull a single show so here we are for you guys,” says Konan, surrounded by his friends onstage who are clearly gassed for him stepping in at the eleventh hour. Indeed, this feels like a special moment in time. Lesser bands would have cancelled shows in the wake of a missing singer, but Malevolence are a unit and will pull together to give fans exactly what they deserve, which in this instance is an absolute mauling – to the extent that one of K!’s party dislocated their shoulder in the pit. From Trenches to Life Sentence to On Broken Glass, Malev are operating on another level right now, having armed themselves with a glut of modern metal anthems in recent years. Self Supremacy conjures a choking whirlwind of dust with the largest circle-pit of the entire festival, and It’s All The Same To You ensures the security at the barrier earn their keep, as crowdsurfers show their respect to the resilience and resolve of the men onstage, who’re delivering a masterclass in overcoming the odds and seizing the day. When they return with unfinished business, it’s going to be a nonsense.

It’s a hometown celebration as Volbeat close the main stage for another year. And yet, considering they’re following in the footsteps of Iron Maiden and Bring Me The Horizon, the show feels a little lacklustre as a result. Sure, it’s slick, and frontman Michael Poulsen oozes charisma, but feels a little too safe and by the numbers for what should be a historic occasion. They do pack in the jams, though, barrelling through Demonic Depression, The Devil’s Bleeding Crown and For Evigt, but are forced to cut things short due to the pending lightning storm about to hit the site. Not the ideal climax for Denmark’s biggest rock export, but is there a more metal way to close a festival than with the thundergods waging bloody war?

Read this next:

• Who are Bring Me The Horizon’s fans?
• Iron Maiden: “Some older bands seem like they have nothing left to prove, I have something to prove every f*cking day”
  
• Malevolence: “Bands come and go, and it’s really nice to believe that we’re still on the up”