COPENHELL and VEGA present for the 13th time six Danish bands that they believe have the potential to break far beyond the country's borders. COPENHELL and VEGA have worked together, with a strong focus on the growth layer, to build the launch pad that has helped launch names such as BAEST, EYES and Neckbreakker abroad.

The next six bands will play on their home turf at VEGA, and in collaboration with MXD, a highly competent team of international industry professionals has been selected, consisting of record labels, managements, agencies, international festivals and other key players in the European rock and metal scene, who are invited to meet and experience all six bands together with a headbanging audience. The Danish metal scene is still suffering from growing pains, the quality is sky-high, and time and time again, Danish bands show their ability to break boundaries and achieve international status – and it must be shown!

In the 2026 edition of When COPENHELL Freezes Over you can experience:

TROLD
TROLD is not just a band – they are a living fairy tale. The music is forged from bark, blood and booming tones, and they rise from the earth with instruments in their arms and laughter in their hearts. It is folk metal with horns on both foreheads and hands, and epic tales served with a twinkle in the eye and foam in the beard.

ST. DIGUE
With their unique blend of electronic darkwave and industrial rock, ST. DIGUE has been sending shockwaves through the Copenhagen underground scene since 2020. Armed with painterly synthesizers, pounding drum machines and primal screams, the group paints a vivid and harsh picture of trauma, alienation and self-destruction.

SUNKEN
The atmospheric black metal band SUNKEN has been unfolding their dark and melancholic soundscapes since 2012. With a sound that moves between the violent and the ethereal, the band has built a strong reputation for their intense and emotional expression – and for their both all-encompassing and intense live shows.

DANEFAE
DANEFAE is a band where the adjective “peculiar” is probably an understatement. With one foot in the Danish song treasury and the other in modern progressive rock, it is hardly a sound you will find many other places on the planet. Sometimes it is violently explosive, other times with small openings into the close and quiet, but always performed with deep sincerity and empathy.

THUS
Watch out for your eardrums, because here comes THUS : A brand new and battle-ready metal band from Aarhus, challenging the conventions of the Danish metal scene with progressive riffs, complex rhythms and melancholic melodies in an original and modern interpretation of Scandinavian death metal.

COLD CULTURE
Up-and-coming Danish band COLD CULTURE have shaken up the post-hardcore scene in Denmark with their unique electronic-inspired approach to hard rock. The band broke through with their debut EP Afterthoughts in 2023, and with a rapidly growing fan base and a reputation for delivering intense, emotional music, they are well on their way to becoming a prominent name in the metal scene.