What happened when Bring Me The Horizon headlined Copenhell

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.

Of course, despite all the mesmerising antics onscreen, it’s what’s onstage that we’re here for. Horizon didn’t come to Copenhell to mess around, and Oli Sykes’ promise that “we’re gonna blow your minds” instantly comes true. Against a stained-glass backdrop with heavy red drapes, the opening triumvirate of DarkSide, The House Of Wolves and MANTRA sets the tone for this sunny evening, as the capacity crowd of 35,000 give every ounce of energy their burnt bodies can muster. When Oli asks for “proper Danish mosh-pits” for Happy Song, at least eight open up and start spinning.

Oli himself is on incendiary form tonight, looking every bit a rock star, with a Cheshire Cat smile stretching from ear to ear, still not quite believing just how far his band have come in the past two decades and what they’ve made happen. They might not be those deathcore lads any more, but he throws in more and more gutturals and gnashing screams, clearly revelling in a rediscovered love for going heavy. And it wouldn’t be a Horizon show without some signature asides from the frontman, including the excellent “C’mon you hippies! Dance like you’re gonna save the whales!” during Shadow Moses.

There are countless standout moments like this that make up the show. Some re explosive, some subtle – from the almighty hellfire of Project Angel Dust attacking the stage during Kool-Aid, to the band jamming the intro to Korn’s Blind as Oli’s Jonathan Davis-inspired mic stand is brought onstage, to the augmented reality that changes the faces of band and crowd in real time, to fan Emily coming onstage to sing Antivist by herself, with Oli only chipping in the odd word as her progress is rated Guitar Hero-style onscreen.

All of this and more is yet more proof that Horizon are packing the best live show on the planet right now. Nobody is coming close to operating at this level of creativity, deviating from the norm to create a hybrid of theatre, metal, cinema and extended reality technology. For almost two decades, BMTH have been ahead of the game musically, leaving an entire generation of bands to catch up, and onstage they’ve moved even further ahead of the pack. Nobody is doing what they do right now. In fact, nobody can do what they’re doing.

And yet, despite clearly sitting at the top of the mountain, at numerous times tonight, the band make sure to thank those who actually made it happen – the people in the crowd. “I don’t know what we did to deserve this,” Oli smiles out at the Copenhagen horde, taking in the setting sun and the energy buzzing throughout this industrial Mad Max-esque complex, before hurtling into a ground-shaking Can You Feel My Heart.

Ahead of the encore, a montage of archive tour, live and music video footage plays out – including a clip of Oli meeting Chester Bennington for a Kerrang! cover shoot – showing just how the band have evolved and how far they’ve come. Because even now, when shows of this size have become commonplace, it still feels like a win. This is the result of hard graft from four lads from Yorkshire. And as the knockout throw of Doomed, Drown and Throne’s big confetti ending send Copenhell home with a ringing in their ears and adoration in their hearts, the video for Dehumanized rolls onstage, hinting at a much more feral incarnation to come.

One day Horizon will reach their final form, but it’s not coming any time soon. Press start to continue.

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• Motionless In White: “I am motivated by the personal conquest of defeating time”
• Static Dress: “I want us to be the ultimate escapism band”