Not content to let the Roskilde Festival steal the spotlight with its slew of early announcements, the heavy metal festival Copenhell this week added headline acts sure to excite the cityÂ’s headbangers.
The 2012 Copenhell festival will be headlined by metal stalwarts Slayer and shock-rock act Marilyn Manson. The two veteran acts will join previously announced bands Anthrax, Lamb of God and Skeletonwitch, among others, at the two-day festival taking place June 15-16 at Refshaleøen.
Slayer have been among the undisputed kings of metal since their formation in the early 1980s. Their 1986 album, ‘Reign in Blood’, set the standard for thrash metal and has been called some variation of ‘the best metal album of all time’ by several publications. The California natives have gone on to release eleven studio albums, their latest being 2009’s ‘World Painted Blood’. The group’s last appearance in Denmark was an Aarhus show in March, where the band split the bill with fellow veterans Megadeth.
While SlayerÂ’s dark, sometimes-Satanic lyrics have netted them their fair share of negative attention, co-headliner Marilyn MansonÂ’s entire career has seemingly been built upon controversy.
The American shock-rocker shot to stardom in 1995 with an eery cover of the Eurythmics’ hit song ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’. The following year’s album, ‘Antichrist Superstar’, made Manson one of the most popular acts in the world. His anti-Christian stance and tendency to rip up the Bible on stage also made him the subject of protests from religious groups in the US. In the wake of the Columbine high school shooting tragedy in the American state of Colorado, some in the media tried to blame Manson’s music as a possible motivation for the shooters, though no proof was ever made of that connection.
Once the manufactured shock of Manson began to wear off, so too did his success. Later albums never matched the sales or critical acclaim of ‘Antichrist Superstar’. A new record, ‘Born Villain’ is due in 2012, so Copenhell attendees will likely have some new material to look forward to.
The 2011 Copenhell festival featured such acts as Judas Priest, Morbid Angel, and Korn.
