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Friday, the third day of Copenhell 2024, marks the most anticipated and feared moment of this edition. A trying 12-hour crucible, the day spanned from 12:30 PM until 12:45 AM with barely a moment for rest. In this slog we witnessed some of the most interesting bands of the entire festival take the stage.
It’s a blend of new sounds and highly anticipated names.
The other chapters of our Live Report:
- [LINK Day 1]: The gates of the Metal Party Opens
- [LINK Day 2]: Oddities & Different Strokes
- [LINK Day 4]: Lethargy and Grand Finale
Day 3- The Longest Metal Day in Denmark
I’m still trying to ingest a mouthful of spongy pizza as I make my way towards the Pandemonium stage, preparing my camera. I arrived just in time to join the photographer’s alley.
Vulvatorious
Ditte and guitarists Signe and Sofie are already igniting the stage blasting full-volume Black Metal.
Fresh from their debut LP released just a few months ago, Vulvatorious is quickly rising in Copenhagen’s metal scene, making their 2024 debut at Copenhell and Roskilde Festival. The reason for their success is evident: their sludgy black metal is robust and intriguing, their stage presence is mature.
Ditte is magnetic, and what unfolds on stage today is unprecedented for the band. The girls are in exceptional form, and there’s a particular energy in the air; Ditte exudes unexpected confidence. The adrenaline infects the audience, not just through their powerful sound and solid growls, but also through the naturalness with which everything is staged.
Vulvatorious owns the stage, having performed only two tracks and already knowing they’re delivering an outstanding concert.
When Andreas from Plaguemace joins Ditte on stage, it’s pure fun; the two play like siblings in a playground, and we wish we were there with them to share in their joy. The mosh pit feels it and follows, the mood is infectious. Even when Vulvatorious tackles heavier themes like domestic violence and sexism in their lyrics, the conviction in their delivery and the energy of their performance never wavers.
Feminine and masculine energies converge in Vulvatorious’ metal, with straightforward and direct lyrics, even when addressing tough subjects. It’s impossible to remain indifferent to the passion and enthusiasm with which this young band plays their metal.
Fantastic, we grab the first available phone and we improvise an interview as an antipasti of what to come soon!
During the interview we touch upon the playful participation of Plaguemace and we link to our previous interview with Sophie of Konvent (here).
UPDATE (Sept. 2024): the full interview with Ditte is available HERE !
Uriah Heep
After the RedBull & Chloroform of Vulvatorious, I slow down as I head towards Uriah Heep. I´m riding an adrenaline high and Uriah Heep promises good music and a more relaxed atmosphere.
They do not disappoint: track after track, I traverse the history of heavy metal from its pioneers. A slight serenity envelops the stage; Bernie Shaw and Mick Box wear broad smiles, almost childlike, doing what they love most: their music. The way tracks from their new album “Chaos & Colour” seamlessly integrate into the setlist is striking, holding their own against their legendary classics.
A flawless act allows me to be contemplate the roots of metal. Always immense
Kerry King
Slayer will never go out of style; in fact, at Copenhell 2024, we’re hearing covers even from Mr. Bungle and Body Count, and it’s beginning to feel like a new trend. Kerry King does what he does best: he brings Death Angels’ vocalist on stage and first delights us with bluesy metal, then gets us roaring with “Disciple,” “Raining Blood,” and “Black Magic.” Fun is guaranteed, and we’re here for it.
Eivør
They’re the band you didn’t know you loved.
If you think you don’t know them, think again: the Faroese led by singer Eivør Pálsdóttir have already enchanted you with soundtracks from video games like “God Of War” (2018), “God Of War Ragnarök” (2022), “The Banner Saga 3” (2018), and the TV series “The Last Kingdom” (2015). Now that I have your attention, let me introduce this band founded on Eivør’s collaboration with Mikael Blak (Clickhaze, Yggdrasil, 200, multi-instrumentalist and producer). Currently, this band represents one of the most important musical realities in the Faroe Islands, with numerous LPs blending folk, rock, and electronic music.
Eivør and Mikael take the stage with understated grace; their electronic folk fills the air in the Gehenna forest. Experiencing their music is primal: synths and percussion carry vocals directly under the skin, penetrating the primal core of the soul without passing through the brain. Like reptiles, we absorb the vibrations and respond to the singer’s primitive chants.
It’s a ritual that regresses us, tracing human phylogeny in a deeply anthropological way. The final tracks of the concert gently awaken us, reconnecting mind and sensations with the sensual “Hands”.
Their performance caresses the skin, and we return to reality after a journey to our origins.
Slaughter to Prevail
While still reflecting on carnal human nature with Eivør, I receive a message from Davide. The mad man is crowdsurfing over Slaughter to Prevail’s brutal carnage.
Here’s what he comments: “Slaughter to Prevail is a revelation or confirmation. Surely, their success on social media played a role in their popularity, but this is undoubtedly a complete band with much to offer, among the front-runners at the moment. All energy, mosh pit, and wall of death personally coordinated by the singer among the audience. The scars on Alex Terrible’s face may be intimidating, but to us, he seemed like a teddy bear to us”.
Well said, Davide; your comment is very journalistic, but when I met you after the concert, you were oozing adrenaline like someone who had experienced the ultimate metal show, and perhaps it was. Slaughter to Prevail brought the best contemporary metal to the stage with technique, showmanship, and passion. Davide kept talking about it for days.
Machine Head
Finally, an unquestionable headliner: Machine Head is at Copenhell. When metal deities like Dimmu Borgir or Overkill descend to Earth, I go find ZeTó as my concert buddy.
The next two hours are the power of elements: columns of fire rising from the stage and torrential rain falling from the Nordic sky. “Is There Anybody Out There?” is overwhelming, “Davidian” and “Halo” conclude a display of metal in its purest form, perfect. We mosh everywhere: in the crowd, at the bar, under an improvised shed. At the end of the concert, veteran ZeTó fixes me with a resolute gaze and pronounces his verdict: “You must write well about this concert.”
You don’t want to upset veteran ZeTó, and writing poorly about Machine Head is impossible; yet, faced with such a dazzling show, it’s hard not to fall into obvious praise. Indomitable.
Chelsea Wolfe
The day seems endless: at 11:15 PM, I begin my twelfth hour of the festival. In half an hour, John Cxnnor, one of the most anticipated concerts.
Chelsea Wolfe performs at Pandemonium, and I decide to stop by for a taste of her music. Chelsea Wolfe’s atmospheric rock-blues fills the night with mysterious blue, intense red, and ultimately saturates the darkness with white. On an essential stage, monochromatic lights intensify the emotions of one of the most beautiful voices in today’s music scene. Sweet, intense, sometimes poignant and melancholic, yet also ignited by resolute incursions of rock. The show is all voice and music, nothing else is needed.
On any other night, I would have wanted to savor every single note of this musical perfection, but I must already head towards the Gehenna stage, as the rain intensifies again. Holy Woman.
John Cxnnor
Arriving at Gehenna, damp and tired. John Cxnnor is a collective of industrial, electronic, and noise founded by brothers Rasmus & Ketil. After their debut in 2021, the supergroup has continued to evolve through numerous collaborations. During their previous live performance at the Festival Roadburn 2022, Kim Sternkopf lent his voice for the entire set (here’s our presentation in Kim’s interview).
Upon my arrival, Kim is already on stage, his screams and growls merging with the electronic base in a post-apocalyptic industrial setting. It would fit a scorching Mad Max, but here in the woods, the rain intensifies, and it feels more like Waterworld. I can’t stay back, thus I move closer to the stage. Kim leaves the stage, new track – new singers. And so, it continues for the next hour: new sequence, new singers, new show.
This is not just a concert but a festival within the festival. We shift from industrial to electronic metal, to rave, ambient, doom metal convent; non-stop in a metal rave mosh-pit wall of death. Kim Sternkopf raises the bar from his great performance at the Roadburn Festival with a stage presence of strong impact. Cabal performs the neck breaking “If I Hang, Let Me Swing“, already released as a single with the collaboration of John Cxnnor. HIRAKI ‘s progressive synthpunk turns the set into a dark rave; the track “Common Coma” is devastating. Meejah brings us back to electronic sensations blending the North with the East. The Witch Club Satan sequence is impressive: supported by electronic beats, they stage a gig worth a whole concert, combining music, voice, choreography, story, dancing and acting.
Experimental bands EYES and LLNN are among the most anticipated features and do not disappoint, delivering two of the lineup’s most eclectic tracks, indescribable. Tvivler and Sylt offer a more punk/noise approach that integrates very well. Among the singers, Jacob Bredhal (Smertegraesen troldere and producer at Dead Rat Studio) stands out with a top-notch performance.
It was an unexpected and unprecedented experience: in an hour of incessant music, the voices and sounds of the best current Danish bands alternate. Rasmus & Ketil’s ability to respect each artist’s sound without compromising the identity of their show is surprising. The sound of the bands is recognizable and specific, but the set is united by exceptional electronic bases. We never leave the dystopian world of Terminator but admire its different shades.
It’s not just a concert but a triumph of electronics merging with extreme rock: a celebration of John Cxnnor’s experimental music, an event never seen in Scandinavia. Lasers cut through the rain, beats resonate from the speakers, bodies float above heads, and shoulders bump. From viscious vocalizations shouted into microphones and absorbed by the soaked, shrieking crowd, the collective madness of the artists and audience was an experience within an experience. Apocalyptic.
My absolute winners of Copenhell 2024: tonight, industrial has become grand in Denmark. If I could relive an hour of music of the past year, I would probably choose this one. I tribute to this act with the video of Witch Club Satan & John Cxnnor of “Unlike Humans” Live at Copenhell 2024.
The other chapters of our Live Report:
- [LINK Day 1]: The gates of the Metal Party Opens
- [LINK Day 2]: Oddities & Different Strokes
- [LINK Day 4]: Lethargy and Grand Finale
