Here's to another year of rainy Copenhell. This was my 5^th year at the festival, and I kid you not, it has been raining every damn year, but nonetheless, the metal spirit was high in the air and people weren't that bothered by the nasty weather – they might have gotten used to it by now.
Truth be told, this year's line-up was a bit disappointing, I was expecting some more big names. We've seen IN FLAMES in 2013 as well as EVERY TIME I DIE, RED WARSAWA in 2015, SLAYER and SAXON in 2012; do these bands come as a package deal or something? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed seeing IN FLAMES this year, especially because last time the sound was just horrible, I couldn't even recognize my favorite song from them. I was looking forward seeing NOTHING MORE, but due to reasons outside of the festival's powers, they had to cancel their tour, which was a pity.

Getting back on track here, SYSTEM OF A DOWN was the main headliner, followed by PROPHETS OF RAGE and FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, all 3 performances could be described as 'meh', 'wtf' and 'surprisingly good.'
I am more of a SERJ fan rather than SOAD, but I do enjoy some toxicity from time to time. 45 min before the show began, the area around Helviti started to fill up with both young and old metalheads. The band gave us a standard show, singing, some hand movements and gestures, some more singing, head banging here and there, singing and 'thank you very much Copenhell', quite boring from start to finish. The audience was full of positive attitude and wonder, the sound was very good and thank god the lines for the beers were short. If I were to grade SOAD overall performance, I would say it was fair, the lack of energy was palpable, it was the audience that created the concert.

Tracklist:
1.Soldier Side (Intro)
2. Suite-Pee
3. Prison Song
4. Violent Pornography
5. Aerials
6. Mr. Jack
7. DDevil
8. Needles
9. Deer Dance
10 Radio / Video
11. Hypnotize
12. Pictures
13. Highway Song
14. Bounce
15. Suggestions
16. Psycho
17. Chop Suey!
18. Lost in Hollywood
19. Question!
20. Lonely Day
21. Kill Rock 'n Roll
22. BYOB
23. Roulette
24. Toxicity
25. Sugar

PROPHETS OF RAGE had nothing to do with Copenhell whatsoever, they should have performed this upcoming weekend at Roskilde, might have been a better audience for a rap-metal band. With the current political scheme and the tragedies that are happening around the world at the moment, why would you wear a Muslim head cover?  Why B-Real why, what's the incredibly deep message you wanted to share with us?
The concert started with a warning siren, initiated by DJ Lord, who promptly raised his fist before the band went on with the "Prophets of Rage" starter. The revolutionary fever was received ok by the audience, with "Testify" and "Take the Power Back", "Guerilla Radio", the concert had a good start, but lost some momentum as they reached not so well-known tracks such as "Fight The Power".

Tracklist:
1. Prophets of Rage (Public Enemy cover)
2. Testify
3. Take the Power Back
4. Guerilla Radio
5. Unfuck the World
6. Bombtrack
7. Fight the Power (Public Enemy cover)
8. Medley: Dr. Greenthumb / Can not Truss It / Insane In the Brain / Bring the Noise / Jump Around
9. Sleep Now in the Fire
10. Like a Stone (instrumental) (Audioslave cover)
11. Know Your Enemy
12. Bullet In the Head
13. How I Could Just Kill a Man ( Cypress Hill cover)
14. Bulls on Parade
15. Killing In the Name

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH was an extremely pleasant surprise. There has been some uncertainty about the band and their upcoming performances in the days leading up to the festival. Lead singer Ivan Moody, had a really bad gig around mid-June and announced that he had to pull the plug for a while to get his addiction in order. With rumors that he would completely leave 5FDP, I started to think that they would be a no show as NOTHING MORE. With Tommy Vext filling in, the band gave an incredible performance, and I could go as far as saying that this was the highlight of the entire festival. They started out loud, with "Lift Me Up" and kept a really fast paced rhythm the entire show. Coming up to the instrumental "Wrong Side of Heaven", the masses quickly got their phones up and singed along.
The area in front of Helviti was packed and full of energy, 5FDP are still giving a kick-ass show.

Tracklist:
1. Lift Me Up
2. Never Enough
3. Wash It All Away
4. Got Your Six
5. Bad Company (cover)
6. Jekyll & Hyde
7. Burn MF
8. Wrong Side of Heaven
9. Coming Down
10. Burn it down
11 Hard To See
12. No One Gets Left Behind
13. Under and Over It
14. The Bleeding

HATESPHERE were the only danes on the main stage at Copenhell this year, with a setlist packed with a lot of heavy tracks and enthusiasm for days, the only thing missing was "The Coming Of Chaos".

BLACK STAR RIDERS were a breath of fresh air in a sea of heavy metal. Because of the group's inextricable links to THIN LIZZY, it was inevitable that BLACK STAR RIDERS would face identity issues when trying to find their own path. Having released three albums under their new name, their status as a semi-independent musical entity is finally growing. Starting with "All Hell Breaks Loose", the track delivers exactly what it promises, 4 minutes of riffs and attitude. Followed by "Heavy Fire" and "Bloodshot", you get the full cup of what the band is all about. They couldn't leave the stage or the people hanging without throwing in some crowd pleasers such as THIN LIZZY cover: "The Boys Are Back In Town" and the traditional "Whiskey In The Jar".

POWERWOLF were incredible. Even though they had a really late spot on stage (12.45am) people were not discouraged and packed the stage ground. The darkness surrounded Refshaleøen and we were ready for the Metal Mass. POWERWOLF delivered hits after hits such "Werewolves of Armenia", "Blessed and Possesed", "Armata Strigoi", "Sanctified with Dynamite". Falk Maria Schlegel was on top form as usual and had the crowd in his hands the entire time. This guy is a charismatic energy machine, how does he do it? The Greywolf's switched sides constantly and interacted with the public constantly and Attila Dorn was a true metal priest. It's always a pleasure seeing them and even though all their concerts are somewhat similar, you never manage to get bored.

EUROPE took over the stage with bad sound and even worse weather. Their scenic presence looked overly rehearsed. Even with the absence of "Carrie", "Cherokee" and many other classics, spirits were up and everybody was ecstatic to hear "The Final Countdown".

SLAYER was the last band on Copenhell's main stage and for a reason. Trash metal icons crushed it! Tom Araya's bass and Paul Bostaph's kick drums projected out of the subwoofers in front of the stage with the force of a runaway freight train and shook the grounds with amazeballs tracks such as "Repentless", "War Ensemble", "Seasons in the Abyss". "South Of Heaven", "Raining Blood" and "Angel of Death".

All in all, Copenhell 2017 was another success. The festival area was better organized, more spaces for people to hang out, drink and eat and to get some shelter from the rain. Looking forward to a better line-up in 2018.
Horns up, and see you next year in hell!