by Arta Gailuma
— Photojournalist —
June 20th-23rd, 2018 at B&W, Refshaleøen Island in Copenhagen, Denmark–
Since 2010, fans have been gathering annually on the island of Refshaleøen, an area in Copenhagen’s harbor, which is an industrial part of the city for the biggest Metal party in the country. And can a place could never be more Metal than this, the revamped industrial landmark was once home to one of the world’s largest shipyards, B&W. The two large halls still standing at the complex were built in the early 1960s by Burmeister & Wain were used to build ships until 1996. Today the area houses creative businesses, restaurants, sports facilities, cultural events and, of course, is home to Copenhell- Denmark’s largest Rock and Metal festival which this year took place on June 21st to 23rd with a brand new feature- warm-up day added before the three main days.
With only 8-years behind them, this festival has already become part of the leading ones in Northern Europe if not in the whole of Europe. Celebrating the huge variety of Metal culture it offers something to each end every festival goer. And as one of the few remaining city festivals in Europe, it is easily accessible for everyone including those who don’t camp or drive.
Being a newbie to Copenhell, I do have to say, I was very impressed, definitely a festival with atmosphere and quite different from others in many ways. Over the years it has grown into a whole Heavy Metal village with many different themed areas to eat, drink and just chill.
The Viking themed Asgard; Purgatory with a small stage for sideshows, getting a tattoo or testing ones pain threshold; Acheron with some quite extravagant food and drink choices. On the foodie note, ready for the traditional festival burger, kebab or pizza, I was pleasantly surprised by the great food selection here. Fish& chips, Indian, Vietnamese, nachos, green vegan burger … and churros, waffles, pancakes for the sugar fix… just a few of the choices.
Brilliant use of the historic B&W hall, decorated with the iconic Fenris wolf, it was transformed inside into a beer garden/winery with an area to watch World Cup.
The queuing system at the entrance was great with clearly marked lines and no long waits. At the end of each night, there were plenty of busses arranged to bring to drunken crowds back to town.
The only negative aspect that did stand out to me were the porta-potties right next to Pandæmonium stage. A constant heavy smell of urine while enjoying heavy metal… is definitely a “no.” I’m sure that would be fixable in the future.
Over the years Copenhell has hosted an impressive list of the leading names: Megadeth, Judas Priest, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Slipknot, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson only just a few to mention.
Copenhell’s 2018 edition’s main headliners were Avenged Sevenfold, Ozzy Osbourne and controversial Sweden’s rock band Ghost.
Overall Copenhell 2018 was a brilliant experience with a mega lineup, great sound, tasty food, wonderful people and as a special treat we had blue sky too.
See you, metalheads, next year- June 19th to 22nd and we’ll celebrate Copenhell’s 10th anniversary!
Warm-Up Day —
Pandæmonium Stage:
Turnstile
L7
Mustasch
Neurosis
Red Warszawa
Day 1 —
[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”313″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_thumbnails” override_thumbnail_settings=”0″ thumbnail_width=”75″ thumbnail_height=”75″ thumbnail_crop=”1″ images_per_page=”44″ number_of_columns=”8″ ajax_pagination=”1″ show_all_in_lightbox=”0″ use_imagebrowser_effect=”0″ show_slideshow_link=”1″ slideshow_link_text=”[Show as slideshow]” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”300″]
Helviti Stage:
Parkway Drive
Nightwish
Avenged Sevenfold
Hades Stage
Tremonti
Asking Alexandria
Arch Enemy
Bullet For My Valentine
Pandæmonium Stage:
Smertegrænsens Toldere/ UxDxS/Nut Liv
The Last Internationale
Zeal& Ardor
Thy Art Is Murder
Møl
Soulfly
Day 2 —
[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”314″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_thumbnails” override_thumbnail_settings=”0″ thumbnail_width=”75″ thumbnail_height=”75″ thumbnail_crop=”1″ images_per_page=”44″ number_of_columns=”8″ ajax_pagination=”1″ show_all_in_lightbox=”0″ use_imagebrowser_effect=”0″ show_slideshow_link=”1″ slideshow_link_text=”[Show as slideshow]” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”300″]
Helviti Stage:
Exodus
Deftones
Alice In Chains
Ozzy Osbourne
Hades Stage:
Audn
At The Gates
Graveyard
Kreator
Enslaved
Pandæmonium Stage:
Tainted Lady
Natjager
ORM
Crossfaith
Bersærk
Danko Jones
Day 3 —
[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”315″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_thumbnails” override_thumbnail_settings=”0″ thumbnail_width=”75″ thumbnail_height=”75″ thumbnail_crop=”1″ images_per_page=”44″ number_of_columns=”8″ ajax_pagination=”1″ show_all_in_lightbox=”0″ use_imagebrowser_effect=”0″ show_slideshow_link=”1″ slideshow_link_text=”[Show as slideshow]” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”300″]
Helviti Stage:
Jakob Stegelmann& Orchestra
Steel Panther
W.A.S.P
Helloween
Ghost
Hades Stage:
Livløs
Defecto
Kellermensch
Corrosion Of Conformity
Alestorm
Sodom
Pandæmonium Stage:
The Sledge
Nothing More
Suffocation
Igorrr
Satyricon
Tsjuder
Festival sites:
https://www.copenhell.dk
www.facebook.com/copenhell/
