From a low baseline to a high one, under a constant, punishing heat. Hell’s flame had a grip on us. Friday at Copenhell 2026 brought Trivium in top form, a collapsed anniversary show, and a festival balancing chaos with highlights.
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Disclaimer: Apropos Magazine received access or a review copy. As always, we share our own impressions — unfiltered.
Six stars
15 Years in Hell – ambition alone doesn’t do it
When you try too hard to be cool, it doesn’t always work.
Copenhell had poured a lot of energy into its 15th anniversary show. The musicians had rehearsed, the festival had promoted it, and the idea was, in truth, a sympathetic one. When you turn 15, you’re allowed to do something that doesn’t look like the rest of the lineup.
From the audience’s point of view, though, it started from a difficult position. One headliner had canceled, and in its place we got... something very different.
Supergroups can be fantastic. Them Crooked Vultures are a good example of how the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.
That just wasn’t the case here.
Many of the performances had an almost forced energy. It was as if everyone was constantly trying to make the concert move faster than it actually could. I found myself thinking of a guy I saw earlier in the day on an e-bike, with the speed limiter kicking in again and again. You wanted to get there faster, but something kept holding you back.
DJ Noize was actually one of the bright spots. His scratch shows made it very clear why he became world champion. It was a fun detour that worked surprisingly well in the metal universe.
Ashes of Billy & Friends also hit the mark with Ace of Spades and Everlong, where Daniel Aabenhus Herman delivered a hoarse vocal that suited both songs beautifully.
The duet on Psychosocial was less successful. Ditte Krøyer did really well, while Emma Acs never quite found her place.
Unfortunately, the whole thing ended up feeling a bit like one of those TV shows where famous people laugh just a little too hard at each other’s own jokes.
I actually love that Copenhell dares to experiment. The festival has previously had success with, among other things, By Request concerts, and it’s great that they don’t just play it safe.
But this idea never became as legendary as it had hoped.
★☆☆☆☆☆
Trivium – the moment of the year on Helviti
If anyone asked me which concert best captured Copenhell Friday as a whole, the answer would be Trivium.
It felt like a band that could bring together just about every generation and every corner of the festival grounds.
They played absurdly tight.
Matt Heafy is, at the same time, a fascinating frontman. His face seems to have a life of its own. Guitar faces, huge smiles, intense expressions, and that trademark tongue hanging over the edge of the stage mean you never quite know what’s coming five seconds from now.
And you love it.
There was just one problem with the concert.
It was far too hot.
Friday’s heatwave, combined with extra pyrotechnics, eventually drove us to seek out the shade. It’s the first time I’ve left a concert because the stage was simply producing too much heat.
That really says it all.
Because what we did get to experience was probably the biggest concert moment of the week.
The crowd became one big boiling collective, the band delivered without a single sluggish stretch, and Helviti felt exactly as explosive as its name promises.
The moment of the year at Copenhell.
★★★★★★
Friday’s other highlights
Paleface Swiss proved that Switzerland can do more than watches, banks, and chocolate. The band looked like a bunch of surfers, the crowd was crowdsurfing, and the dust cloud in front of the stage made it almost necessary to surf through the pit yourself.
A Perfect Circle delivered exactly the elegant weight you’d expect from a band with that kind of presence, while both Anthrax and P.O.D. made sure Friday ended with plenty of experience and classic festival moments.
