Getting you caught in a mosh since 1981

I arrive at the Hades stage in a bitter state: Upon having just witnessed Copenhell's 15th anniversary all-star show. It started off cool with having people like Gus G and Thundermother's Linnea Vikström perform songs by that Twisted Sister for whom the show acted as a replacement upon their summer tour cancellation. But it slowly and steadily degenerated into unnecessarily drawn-out DJ sets, misplaced electronic features with next to zero staying power, and, worst of all, someone performing a fucking Limp Bizkit cover.

I will kill all of you. Limp Bizkit is just very plainly the most idiotic, trend-speculating, lowest-common-denominator-pandering mockery of the entire metal genre that ever existed. The fact that anyone can take them seriously is testament to the sad fact that mankind really only is as worthy as our dumbest link. The fact that my supposed brothers and sisters around me are rocking out to that obvious of a calculated travesty makes me ashamed of not only being into metal, but ashamed of being human.

Man, I feel like opening all my reviews in a similar way – except, of course, I shouldn't have to. Oh yeah, about that: I was gonna review an Anthrax concert here.

Yes. I've seen them four times through the years: Graspop 2005, Copenhell 2012, Wacken 2013, and supporting Slayer in 2015. Shit, not since then? Embarrassing.

Because say what you want about how and why they're the smallest of those "big four"; as a live act, they're a red-hot force to be reckoned with.

Briefly getting back to the beginning, though: Exactly because I'm bitter on behalf of my culture having just been molested before my very eyes and ears, I find it difficult to get in the mindset of rocking out. Not even having the PA play "The Number of the Beast" or the Blues Brothers' high-paced version of Otis Redding's "I Can't Turn You Loose" before the band goes on stage makes things any better.

But then, of course, the band does go on stage…

I dunno, man. And that's in, I seriously don't know what's happening or how it's happening. But all of a sudden, the place is a fucking frenzy. I recognize those wonderfully vicious chords and that wonderfully primitive stomp. And as a fiery thrash pulls us all along in an instant like jumping on a moving train, an equally fiery Joey Belladonna storms out from behind the carpet:

"DISEASE!
DISEASE!
SPREADING! THE! DISEASE!"

Oh, fucking Hell, dude. And it only gets twice as savage during the band's rousingly punk rock cover of Joe Jackson's "Got the Time". Indeed, within minutes, Anthrax has the place turned into a veritable madhouse… which, as you may have guessed by that italicized phrase, is exactly what they're playing next.

Several streams of crowd surfers ecstatically ride the waves. I'm counting four or five simultaneously at one point. I'm seeing older, graying women and their teenage daughters moshing side by side here. I'm still doing my whole sober festival challenge on this, the third day, but I'm wailing, shouting, and hollering along like I've drunk enough to justify a night in detention. And as if to quadruple down on the madness, the band delivers a "Caught in a Mosh" as furious as it ever was. I mean, holy turbo-shitting Christ, people.

These guys are in their sixties. But they're as much on fire as they supposedly were when breaking into the big leagues 40-some years ago. I especially gotta give it up for bassist Frank Bello, slinging himself and his, by the way, surprisingly well-kept curly mane around with all the ferocity of Nibbs Carter from Saxon, who I normally consider the coolest bass player in metal. After tonight, I may have to reconsider this standpoint.

One point of criticism is some sound issues punctuating the set a bit. But it does make for some interaction between Belladonna, the crowd, and a gravelly-voiced, but lucid Scott Ian.

"I have a really dumb question…", the latter formally states. "Do you like thrash metal?!?" Weirdly, he doesn't quite get our otherwise enthusiastic reply, so we have to repeat it even louder. And as acknowledgment of receipt, Anthrax offers up one of the subgenre's biggest classics, 42-year-old "Metal Thrashing Mad".

I seriously don't know what's happening or how it's happening. But all of a sudden, the place is a fucking frenzy.

After this, though, things take somewhat of a downturn. Not quality-wise, mind you – au contraire, for me personally, the set's biggest surprise and most enjoyable moment is the ensuing "Keep It in the Family" from my personal favorite, 1990's "Persistence of Time". Anthrax often were a bit goofy around the edges; the more serious tone on that album suited them.

However, most audience members seem to be over-moshed at this point – and/or mostly familiar with those six hit singles that are also the band's most frequently played live tracks. So those people take a breather. And it doesn't make for any more crowd engagement, of course, that we're in for a coupla new ones after this.

Okay, so "Breathing Lightning" is 10 years old, but it's still from their newest album, 2016's "For All Kings". Haven't heard it – just like I haven't heard any new Anthrax LP since fucking John Bush was still on vocal duties. Turns out, though, this one actually kicks ass. Same thing goes for the as-of-yet unreleased "It's For the Kids", thrashing over an almost country-like riff and getting down in a loveably heavy mid-section.

The crowd collectively gets back into gear as Belladonna cajoles, "Can we get a little war dance going?". Most of us know that this means we're in for the gigantic singalong of "Indians", to which occasion the frontman dons a feathered headdress. And no, that is not "cULtuRaL ApPrOpRiaTioN". Because not only is Belladonna of half Iroquois-Indian ancestry; he's also of half Italian ancestry, so that would mean you'd been "ApPrOpRiaTiNG" his culture every time you'd made pizza or lasagna, you apparently fascist, oppressive, racist, xenophobic hypocrite.

So one gigantic war dance it is. But even if there hadn't been one – indeed, if you ever had a tired crowd, you could always get 'em riled back up in the red by playing "Antisocial". Yes, it's a cover – Hell, I don't even think I've ever heard the original. But just like Thin Lizzy made "Whisky in the Jar" their own, just like Joan Jett made "I Love Rock 'n Roll" her own, and just like many other examples of justified covers, this is one such if there ever was one. And if there was ever an absence of party at the Hades stage tonight, that's taken care of right here and now.

I came here thinking that I might stay for a handful of songs, if not less. Although I do end up skipping ahead to the bus less than a minute upon conclusion of set closer "I Am the Law", I ended up staying until after I was full. Because sometimes the main course is so good you can't stop gorging yourself. Especially if the starter course is shitty enough to contain soggy biscuits.

Rating: 5 out of 6

Genre: Thrash metal
Venue: Copenhell, Hades Stage
Date: Fri., June 26th, 2026

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Setlist:

1. Among the Living
2. Got the Time (Joe Jackson cover)
3. Madhouse
4. Caught in a Mosh
5. Metal Thrashing Mad
6. Keep It in the Family
7. Breathing Lightning
8. It's for the Kids
9. Medusa
10. Indians
11. Antisocial (Trust cover)
12. I Am the Law