Copenhell 2012 - Day 2

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   And so it came to be, the second day of Copenhagen's biggest metal festival Copenhell had arrived. Like day one, it was full of strong performances from both iconic metal artists and upcoming metal artists. The weather remained tolerable and the sun was shining most of the afternoon, while the clouds did turn grey in the late afternoon. Of course, I didn't catch all of the acts, but I got to see the bands I wanted to see.

Redwood Hill:
Danish post-black metal performed buy guys clad in hooded black ropes. I didn't catch this show, but I can imagine that it was entertaining.

Saxon:  
This legendary NWoBHM-band played alrady at 14:30 in the afternoon which is ridiculously early for such a band (they did have some ironic comments about that as part of their stage banter, and the audience was of course more than sympathetic). And, bey, did Saxon rock hard. It might have been at 14:30 in the afternoon in 2012, but they rocked like it was 21:00 in 1985, and their no-nonsense straight up classic metal went straight into the hearts of the audience, who loved every second of the Saxon gig. Saxon proved that you can never get to old to rock and that they can still take on younger and more aggressive and brutal bands and come put victorious. For my money, the Saxon show was one of the highlights of the day.

Dying Fetus:
The legendary brutal death metal trio - although not the most interesting act to watch on stage - showed that they are definitely very good live band when it comes to musical performance. The sheer brutality of the riffage was enough to send the crowd into a state of moshing rage, and the precision with which they performed their set was also quite incredible. They did have a couple of extended breaks in which they tuned their instruments, and - while this is a reflection of professional perfectionism - they also lost the connection with the audience, and I spotted several people walking out on the act in every one of these gaps of silence. Then again, the hardcore Dying Fetus fans stuck around and loved every second of the entire gig.

Cerekloth:
Old school death metal from Denmark. I missed this act because they played at the same time as Dying Fetus - not a smart move from the organizers to have two death metal bands play at the same time.

Meshuggah:
The kings of djent graced Copenhell with their presence and drew a big crowd who were not disappointed with the Swedish tech metallers' performance. They played so incredibly loud and so incredibly well that even people who are not really fans of the band - such as myself - could do nothing but admire the band for their professionalism.

The Kandidate:
The Kandidate went on stage at the same time as Korpiklaani, but still drew a quite big crowd. With the d-beat filled crossover death-thrash, their music and performance had just the right amount of energy to make the crowd throw devil horns and bang their heads. The Kandidate simply delivered a raw and rocking performance, and did a very good job of it.

Korpiklaani:
I managed to catch a couple of songs from the Korpuklaani set. With their polka-based folk metal and songs about beer and tequila, their aim was to create a positive and lighthearted atmosphere. They seemed to be successful in their quest, as the audience generally seemed happy, doing pseudo-folk dance steps and singing along.

Immortal:
The sons of Northern darkness delivered a hell of a show complete with misty smoke screens and darkly epic stage visuals, and a massive wall of Marshall cabinets. They stayed in character throughout the show, with Apollyon glaring threateningly at the audience, and Abbath doing his warrior-like facial expressions and delivering chaotic guitar solos and harsh black metal vocals, while Horgh blasted away behind his drum kit. Immortal delivered the goods!

Saturated, I decided to leave before time, and did not see Trivium, Lamb of God, Soulfly and Marilyn Manson. I had already seen Lamb of God live before and I was never a big fan of the three other bands. With Saxon, The Kandidate, and Immortal, I'd really gotten what I came for, so I decided to go home and have some quality time with a deep pan pizza and my significant other. Some might consider that a failure, but i got what I came for at Copenhell 2012 and did not need to see the four last acts. I've heard that especially Lamb of God and Marilyn Manson were very good, so I am sure that they left their fans happy.