Nails
Poolen, Copenhagen - 2026
Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen
Nails from California, USA, have been spreading their aggression for nearly 20 years, but I have to admit that seeing them on the poster together with Kreator, Carcass, and Exodus was the first time I heard of the band. Still, with such venerable touring companions, who was I to argue?
“Tonight is the last night of a long fucking five and a half week tour and to be honest with you, I couldn’t imagine a better fucking place to end it!”
- Todd Jones (vocals/guitar)
From the start, or from straight after Motörhead’s The Hammer which was used as an intro, Nails was pounding out their dirty grindcore thrashy groovy death metal over the Copenhagen crowd. There were no more shows on the tour, so no reason to save any energy seemed to be the way they followed.
At first, Todd Jones’ vocals sounded extremely poorly, as if the mic was broken or something, and I couldn’t figure out if this was an intentional effect or a technical issue. The sound improved a bit during the following couple of songs however, which was nice. Maybe Jones’ just managed to blow the volume cap with his intense screaming?
The performance reflected the music quite well. Even though the three musicians weren’t walking around all that much, they were still heavily active with headbanging and the like, and when they could, they did step around a bit. Kudos to Carlos Cruz for playing his drums standing up during the last song, Unsilent Death.
What surprised me even more than the band however, was how into it the crowd was straight from the top. The middle of the floor was a mishmash of headbanging and mosh pitting, and when Andrew Solis asked for raised fists, he got it without hesitation, just as his request for a wild circle pit was promptly answered.
Having only 30 minutes of stage time, Nails new just how to make the most of it. One thing is that their songs aren’t very long on average, another is the intensity with which these songs were delivered! Yeah, Nails wasn’t holding back at all this night, and the crowd loved it.
Setlist (incomplete):
The Hammer (Motörhead song)
Suffering Soul
Lacking The Ability To Process Empathy
Violence Is Forever
You Will Never Be One Of Us
Unsilent Death
“Tonight is the last night of a long fucking five and a half week tour and to be honest with you, I couldn’t imagine a better fucking place to end it!”
- Todd Jones (vocals/guitar)
From the start, or from straight after Motörhead’s The Hammer which was used as an intro, Nails was pounding out their dirty grindcore thrashy groovy death metal over the Copenhagen crowd. There were no more shows on the tour, so no reason to save any energy seemed to be the way they followed.
At first, Todd Jones’ vocals sounded extremely poorly, as if the mic was broken or something, and I couldn’t figure out if this was an intentional effect or a technical issue. The sound improved a bit during the following couple of songs however, which was nice. Maybe Jones’ just managed to blow the volume cap with his intense screaming?
The performance reflected the music quite well. Even though the three musicians weren’t walking around all that much, they were still heavily active with headbanging and the like, and when they could, they did step around a bit. Kudos to Carlos Cruz for playing his drums standing up during the last song, Unsilent Death.
What surprised me even more than the band however, was how into it the crowd was straight from the top. The middle of the floor was a mishmash of headbanging and mosh pitting, and when Andrew Solis asked for raised fists, he got it without hesitation, just as his request for a wild circle pit was promptly answered.
Having only 30 minutes of stage time, Nails new just how to make the most of it. One thing is that their songs aren’t very long on average, another is the intensity with which these songs were delivered! Yeah, Nails wasn’t holding back at all this night, and the crowd loved it.
Setlist (incomplete):
The Hammer (Motörhead song)
Suffering Soul
Lacking The Ability To Process Empathy
Violence Is Forever
You Will Never Be One Of Us
Unsilent Death
