Copenhell 2026. A year of surprises. A year of the well known, and the not so much. And is the well known really all that well known after all?

Last year, Copenhell was celebrating their 15th anniversary. Wanting to hold on to the celebrations a little longer, this would now count as the 15th festival actually being held. Time is strange that way.

Luckily, Copenhell was doing its part to smooth the transition, the transportation, the whatever you’d like to call it. Would this have been a good place to mention Transport League? Yes, but also no, as they weren’t part of the line up.
What was part of the line up was quite another cup of tea. Copenhell held the line from the previous year, introducing more electronica to the festival. I don’t believe there was an all out electronica band or artist, not like last year’s The Prodigy, but it was definitely part of the festival’s new DNA, with several cross-over acts across the field, and a DJ doing DJ’ing for the 15 year celebratory show - but more on that later. Come to think of it, John Cxnnor, the duo that provided the festival song of the year, is to my meek knowledge a purely electronic band, so there’s that.
Anyway, should we start at the top of the list? Going in order of date, we had returning champions of NWOBHM, Iron Maiden on Wednesday, Bring Me The Horizon on Thursday, special celebratory mash-up 15 Years In Hell on Friday replacing Twisted Sister who had had to cancel their appearance, and finally Volbeat on Saturday. Compared to last year, which had a 1/4 metal band headlining, we were up to a full 4/4 this time around - not a bad change of the old pace! Sure, 15 Years In Hell was a novelty act and not a real band as such, but they were playing metal.

That’s not to say that bands and artists below the top line weren’t pushing boundaries, because they certainly were. Violent Magic Orchestra (one of the coolest band names of the festival) is clearly not only flirting with electronic music, but it is very much an ingrained part of their DNA; and another orchestra, Aarhus Symfoniorkester with Jakob Stegelmann was back with their mix of soundtracks and classical music. Punk rock was generously provided by none other than festival debutant Social Distortion, while the returning Tom Morello certainly wasn’t short on political commentary either. Female fronted acts came in diverse guises, ranging from the super produced Babymetal to the DIY attitude of Voice Of Baceprot.
I could go on and on of course, but it would be easier for you to just check out the festival line up in total elsewhere, so go on and do that, if you feel so inclined.

Why? Because we are off to the next thing!
Copenhell 2026 was a hot year, as hot as hell itself some might have you believe. Well, I don’t know about that, but it was sufficient for a good tan at the end of the day, that’s for sure. Once again, we opted to sleep at home and bike back and forth to Refshaleøen, something a lot of people were going for, as evident by the masses of bikes parked. I get why, biking in Copenhagen and for the festival is the fastest and smoothest way to get around. Buses, taxis, and private cars get stuck in long lines, not to speak of the long lines of people for said buses in the night when people want to go back to wherever they came from, but with a bike, the only limit is more or less yourself.
Once at the festival however, we were all united in the way of the foot - walking down the last loopy part of Refshalevej to the festival entrance. We were home, that’s the only way to describe it.

While things looked familiar on the surface, one of the first surprises hit us almost as soon as we had stepped over the threshold, as the rented storage boxes that we’ve grown accustomed to using, had shrunk in size considerably since previous years, this without previous warning from the company that stood for them or the festival. We made it work, but it would have been nice to know beforehand, in considering what to bring and what to leave behind.
Still, this was a short annoyance, as we were quickly off to the Biergarten for the very first Metalbingo of the year - well, first and only for us, as it couldn’t compete with Jakob Stegelmann & Aarhus Symfoniorkester on the second time it was scheduled. To be fair, I can’t think of anything off hand that could compete with that, so it’s in no way a slight on the fabulous competition of professional Metalbingo, with such marvelous prizes as bottle openers and obscure cassette tapes, and more. What you must realise of course, is that you don’t go to Metalbingo for the prizes, you go for the lowbrow dad jokes and the camaraderie - and drinking, of course. So much fun for so many festival goers. And aren’t the real friends the people you beat, or got beaten by, along the way?
As always, Copenhell offered up a host of sideshows and other events for people seeking alternative entertainment to the music, and as always, our musical dance card was so well filled that we did naught but scratch the surface of these entertaining extravaganzas. We did see some Viking brawling provided once again by the Ulfhednir group, but we missed out on flatbed burnout’s, air guitar competitions, and a witch’s ceremony. We actually tried to get round to the last one, but while the schedule provided info of when it took place, and that it was held in a space called Hangaren, neither the schedule nor the map let us know where Hangaren was located! Oh well, better luck next year, I suppose.
Oh, and just so you know, these were of course only some of the events and showings Copenhell had in store for the sound-weary visitor.

We might not have been able to find Hangaren, but we did find and see a lot of other places.
Having missed it last year, the Copenhell Con was high on my list of interests, and we did make it in there this time around. While it was still a nerdvana filled with vintage arcade games, modern multiplayer computer games, a miniaturised version of an escape room, as well as a large section devoted solely to board games of every kind, you could also buy used clothes from the Red Cross, or get an airbrush tattoo, although why you would opt for the latter when you had the highly talented crew of Graven Tattoo working over in the Boneyard, I couldn’t possibly say.
I did miss the sales booths providing games, comics, books and the like of previous years. Well, that was until we stepped back out into the light, and noticed that they had been given their own area opposite the con hall, called the Dark Market. In there you could find everything from occult jewellery to, well, more occult jewellery. There were some clothes sales as well, but as far as I could see, Forlaget Afkom were the only ones providing some comics and reading material, good old nerd hardware. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve got some excellent wares in this genre, and I personally own a lot of what they’ve put out so far, but it would have been nice with more options.

Options were more in plentitude when it came to provisions. Admittedly, some of our previously listed favourites were missing this year, but that just meant we were on the scout for new experiences, and we did sample several of the food stalls around the festival. I dare say we were particularly fond of the food in Den Sorte Have. They sold traditional Danish dishes such as meatballs with potato salad, chicken & asparagus tartelettes, and several variations of open-faced sandwiches, and the price was quite reasonable.
The small ice cream vendor was a lifesaver on the hot days, as were the free drink water taps around the area. The lines for the latter were pretty damned long at times but luckily they mostly moved at a fair speed - still, couldn’t hurt with one or two more, especially around the main stages area.
The water disposal units, aka pissoirs, at said main stage area had been vastly improved over previous years, and we were now free from having to wade through or circumvent large suspicious puddles! This improvement was a huge advantage for the stand to pee audience (and more than commonly adventurous females), but maybe one or two booths for the sitting down variety would be something to consider for the future?

Something all genders could agree on was that music was the main soul of this machine, and while we may not all have agreed on which bands soared high or took a swan-dive into the asphalt, I don’t mind presenting my top three, in no particular order. Simply because I wouldn’t have a clue how to order them.
A PERFECT CIRCLE - despite knowing of and listening to them since their debut, this was my first time seeing the band live, and it was my most anticipated show of the year. Luckily, they not only lived up to but surpassed my expectations as they delivered a very personal, emotional show on the Helvíti stage in the early evening hours of Friday.
IRON MAIDEN - I don’t know if you can teach an old dog new tricks, but the good old tricks this particular hound knows were delivered to perfection. Great setlist, a hit list not going to newer material than ‘92 (which leaves room for a lot of good tracks for their next visit - wink wink, nudge nudge!). Sadly they didn’t want us reviewing them, so this is all you’ll see of the show at this site.
KATLA - what this Danish trio brought to the Pandæmonium stage in full daylight was nothing short of pure bliss, both for themselves and for the humongous crowd they had attracted. They were perched on the ramparts of the special castle they had had made, with cannons sticking out of the wall, firing fire, smoke, and confetti over the fans, and towards the end they were surrounded by a covered electrical scooter of sorts. It was bonkers to the max, and everyone had the best times of their lives, I dare say!

Not all bands lived up to their potential, and not all experiences were worth having. There were a lot of hardcore and hardcore adjacent bands booked this year, and that’s usually a recipe for a good live show. We took a chance with Thrown from Sweden and End It from the USA, neither of which really delivered that wild mentality that is often associated with hardocre bands. Especially End It could not deliver a performance to match their sound, sadly, as this otherwise could have had a potential for greatness.
Personally, I had been curious about what Babymetal would bring to the table and was looking forward to finally giving them a go, but seeing this over produced and soullessly rehearsed parody of a concert trampled all of what I see as the core of metal music. As Katla so eloquently put it; “Start a band with your best friends”. Well, there was certainly none of this camaraderie to be seen here, where the musicians had been pushed so far up against the back wall, I can only imagine they were tottering on the brink of falling off. Nope, I was off to see what Blood Fire Death had in store instead, and here I must say the name was pretty apt!

Luckily, we saw more good shows than bad, and very few indifferent ones. You’ve been given a top three already, but bands and artists well worth shouting out as well were Alice Cooper, who delivered a well curated circus with his many gimmicks and classics, yet while this show was highly detailed down to the last, well, detail, it was still delivered with a live feeling and a good attention to the audience. Quite the surprise to hear him pay tribute to Nirvana with a cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit, but damn it was good!
Queensrÿche delivered a strong show, with the one odd fact that their tour shirt proclaimed this to be an Empire anniversary tour, and yet they only played the title track from said album, nothing else. Still, the very fact that this sort of prog/power/heavy metal band was hired was a nice break from the norm of the festival as well as a nice change of pace for the audience.
Tom Morello, whom I hadn’t been particularly taken by when he last visited two years ago, came back strong with a surprisingly party-filled delivery this time around. His “Hold fingrene fra Grønland” guitar went down particularly well with the locals, and his tribute to Chris Cornell was well played as well. Oh, and that Mr. Crowley cover was spectacular as well!

What the festival hoped for to be a big pull was the novelty act 15 Years In Hell. This had been placed as a headlining spot after Twisted Sister regrettably had to pull out. What it was, was a conglomeration of mostly Danish rock and metal artists, although there were a couple of international guests as well, in Gus G (Firewind, Gus G) and Joey Belladonna (Anthrax).
These different artists came together to play covers of famous rock and metal songs, such as Twisted Sister’s We’re Not Gonna Take It (a nice tribute to the band that had originally held the spot), Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, and Motörhead’s Ace Of Spades. For a slightly younger generation, there were tracks like Slipknot’s Psychosocial, Foo Fighter’s Everlong, and Limp Bizkit’s Break Stuff. There was of course the festival track of the year, Hellwalkers, delivered by John Cxnnor together with dancing group Kriigerkvlt and vocalists Marika Hyldmar (Machiavellian, ex-Xenoblight) and Thomas Burø (Vægtløs), and a previous festival track, Ulvens Ed, performed by original vocalist Casper Popp (ex-Bersærk) together with musicians Tim Christensen (Dizzy Mizz Lizzy), Nicklas Sonne (Defecto, etc.), Allan Tschicaja (Pretty Maids), and Lars Evers (Bersærk).
While some artists made return appearances, every song was performed by a new constellation of people, and every time a drummer was changed, there was an intermission. The first intermission was a photo slideshow of pictures from various years of the festival - nice, but a bit long. After this there was a DJ session with DJ Noize, and while I’m sure he’s good at whatever it is he’s doing, it was extremely far removed from my taste as well as what seems fitting for the festival. There was no enjoyment to be had from this. The third one was a guitar battle between Søren Andersen (Jesper Binzer, Mike Tramp, etc.) and Gus G. This was staged well, with them standing on the roofs of the two light & sound tech towers, and at first it was good fun, with them opening by playing the Top Gun Anthem by Harold Faltermeyer and Steve Stevens, but they kept playing. And playing. And playing. And playing. This was possibly the longest intermission of all, and it shouldn’t have been. The last intermission was a return of DJ Noize, so I can’t really call that an improvement.
All in all, some good parts, some definitely not so good, altogether waaay too long, and certainly not worthy of a headlining billing.

All in all for the festival, there were a lot of good parts, only a few not so good, a fitting length where we were well tired by the end but still felt there were things to see and experience, and I have to admit, Copenhell is still a top billed festival in my book. Here’s to another 15 years, old chum!