On an extremely windy day – with winter trying to make a comeback – we found ourselves in Copenhagen for a night of brutal and intense US death metal on April 25th, 2026. It wasn’t the first time we ended up at the small side of Amager’s music venue, the Beta, where a few years ago we made a surprise appearance at a SOLOTHUS show. So after dropping our bags at the hotel and a very quick dinner on the way there, we joined the local crowd gathered inside, waiting for the door to the concert hall to open.
Not long after, we were in front of the stage, with TORTURE RACK starting their show. The Portland-based trio started their show in near darkness, while people began filling in the room. “Found in Feces” from their second full-length is the song that started the evening, with the band setting up the atmosphere thanks to their old-school, powerful sound, which got the audience ready to go. The set was divided nicely between their discography, and while a bit static in the performance – guitarist’s hairs aside – the gig was solid, as shown by the appreciation of the crowd.
After a somewhat long-ish break, VASTUM joined the party and conquered the place right away. Being a while since the last time, I had forgotten the tendency of the vocalist to spend more time crowdsurfing than on stage, which has a much bigger impact on the show as a whole in such a small venue. Constantly interacting with the fans, hugging, bumping fists, or just jumping around and letting himself be carried all over the place, their singer was certainly the main focus of their gig. Restless both on and off stage, and carrying on the show with such an intensity that you couldn’t keep your eyes away (if anything, to make sure he would not fall on you at any point). The resulting experience eventually got the Danish crowd to get more and more involved, and a small mosh pit became a near constant in the center of the room. Like the previous band, they also picked somewhat evenly from their material, ending in an encore with “Re-Member” from their debut “Carnal Law.”
A fun Saturday night for sure, that left everyone sweaty and in a good mood. Also, the fact that the whole event was over by half past ten in the evening is always a bonus, so there was still plenty of time to head somewhere else and continue through the night.
TORTURE RACK
VASTUM
