Dark Mental Festival
Dark Mental 2012
• Festival Report •
Angantyr • Archain • Blodarv • Bone • Bulletsize • Caro • Huldre • Iron Fire • Lapis Lazuli • Perception Of Darkness • Rapid Dominance • Roarback • Satanic Stormtroopers • TamutAmen • The Columbian Necktie • Third Parade
General festival info - 2012:
About the place:
Dark Mental Festival is a three day festival in the heart of Copenhagen, placed in the middle of May.
The festival offers up a host of different metal genres such as thrash, black, death, folk, core and more. The line-up is first and foremost concentrated on up and coming bands with or without label contracts, but don’t be too surprised if a band with a bit more routine shows up as a headliner as well.
Dark Mental Festival takes place at the PH Café, which is located only a very short stones-throw from Copenhagen’s main station.
The café has a lounge area with a bar that offers hot and cold drinks, as well as some minor dishes of food. Throughout the festival, this part is open to all types of visitors; festival goers and civilians.
Located next to it is the ‘festival’ room, where not only the stage is located, but also the merch table, the wardrobe and the place where you get your wristband. This section of the café is only open to festival goers.
The PH Café also offers an outdoor seating, which is placed in a backyard which has an open walkway to the outside, but is enclosed enough to give it a nice, tranquil atmosphere where most of the everyday humdrum of city life is held at bay. Like the indoor lounge area, the outdoor seating is also open for everyone.
As we are speaking about being just about as central as you can get in Copenhagen, there are of course no nearby camping possibilities, but the area is littered with hotels in various price-ranges, so there should be no problem finding a temporary home.
Also, since the music doesn’t begin until 8 p.m., there is plenty of time to sleep out a hangover and still be able to go sightseeing or shopping, whatever picks your fancy. You are of course also allowed to just return to the café, one of many in the area, and pick up where you left off the day before.
The music finishes at about 1:30 a.m., but I have no real idea when the café closes down after this, even after really pushing its limits on the last day.
About travelling:
As mentioned earlier, the festival is located at a short walking distance from Copenhagen’s central station, where both trains and local and long-distance busses pass by regularly. Copenhagen also has an airport, Kastrup, which is reachable in no more than 15 minutes from the central station by train, so coming there should be no problem with any of these transportations.
If you go by car, the access is similarly simple enough, however the café has no parking of its own, and parking in the nearby streets is not always the easiest thing to do as there are many fighting over few places.
Being so central, catching a cab is of course also always a possibility, and there are plenty around at all hours of the day.
About prices:
Three-day ticket prices for the festival runs to 180 DKK (approx. 24€), two-day tickets to 140 DKK (approx. 18,5€) and one-day tickets go to the tender price of 80 DKK (approx. 10,5€). All tickets can be bought online or, as far as supplies last, at the door.
Beer prices at the café are what can be expected from average Copenhagen prices, which is about 45 DKK (approx. 6€) for a 40cl. tap beer, but in collaboration with the Dark Mental Festival, special prices are offered on both tap and bottle beer if bought at certain quantities, and if you don’t feel like drinking it all at once, you get coupons which you can hand in later on.
About the place:
Dark Mental Festival is a three day festival in the heart of Copenhagen, placed in the middle of May.
The festival offers up a host of different metal genres such as thrash, black, death, folk, core and more. The line-up is first and foremost concentrated on up and coming bands with or without label contracts, but don’t be too surprised if a band with a bit more routine shows up as a headliner as well.
Dark Mental Festival takes place at the PH Café, which is located only a very short stones-throw from Copenhagen’s main station.
The café has a lounge area with a bar that offers hot and cold drinks, as well as some minor dishes of food. Throughout the festival, this part is open to all types of visitors; festival goers and civilians.
Located next to it is the ‘festival’ room, where not only the stage is located, but also the merch table, the wardrobe and the place where you get your wristband. This section of the café is only open to festival goers.
The PH Café also offers an outdoor seating, which is placed in a backyard which has an open walkway to the outside, but is enclosed enough to give it a nice, tranquil atmosphere where most of the everyday humdrum of city life is held at bay. Like the indoor lounge area, the outdoor seating is also open for everyone.
As we are speaking about being just about as central as you can get in Copenhagen, there are of course no nearby camping possibilities, but the area is littered with hotels in various price-ranges, so there should be no problem finding a temporary home.
Also, since the music doesn’t begin until 8 p.m., there is plenty of time to sleep out a hangover and still be able to go sightseeing or shopping, whatever picks your fancy. You are of course also allowed to just return to the café, one of many in the area, and pick up where you left off the day before.
The music finishes at about 1:30 a.m., but I have no real idea when the café closes down after this, even after really pushing its limits on the last day.
About travelling:
As mentioned earlier, the festival is located at a short walking distance from Copenhagen’s central station, where both trains and local and long-distance busses pass by regularly. Copenhagen also has an airport, Kastrup, which is reachable in no more than 15 minutes from the central station by train, so coming there should be no problem with any of these transportations.
If you go by car, the access is similarly simple enough, however the café has no parking of its own, and parking in the nearby streets is not always the easiest thing to do as there are many fighting over few places.
Being so central, catching a cab is of course also always a possibility, and there are plenty around at all hours of the day.
About prices:
Three-day ticket prices for the festival runs to 180 DKK (approx. 24€), two-day tickets to 140 DKK (approx. 18,5€) and one-day tickets go to the tender price of 80 DKK (approx. 10,5€). All tickets can be bought online or, as far as supplies last, at the door.
Beer prices at the café are what can be expected from average Copenhagen prices, which is about 45 DKK (approx. 6€) for a 40cl. tap beer, but in collaboration with the Dark Mental Festival, special prices are offered on both tap and bottle beer if bought at certain quantities, and if you don’t feel like drinking it all at once, you get coupons which you can hand in later on.
