Thursday 19 June. The day starts quite early: at 1.35pm we are already at the Warzone for Die Spitz and from the first notes it is clear that today the festival intends to give us no respite.
Their show is pure of girl powerwith the crowd breaking into a collective leap after just a couple of songs. After a few slower songs, the pit opens and people go crazy having so much fun that they throw leeks in the air. Yes, real vegetables, throughout the show.
Only at Hellfest can this happen!
We rush to Mainstage 2 for i Tesseractwho bring their technical and iconic progressive metal to the festival, before splitting us up to watch Queensrÿche and Einherjer.
Then comes one of the most original moments of the day: i Bloodwoodthe first on stage to bring new instruments and sounds, the result of their sound that comes directly from New Delhi, India.
The audience is enthusiastic, there is a different kind of energy in the air than usual.
Back to Warzone for i Dying Wish and here we find a pit literally on fire, thanks to the singer's voice Emma Bostersimply crazy.
There is a hint of war, glasses and shoes fly in the air and this only further fuels the band and the fans.
But the historic moment of the day arrives on Mainstage 2: i Burialdirectly from Brazil, who after more than forty years of career, celebrate their farewell with a strength and destruction that leaves its mark. There is no shortage of twists and turns, including historical videos projected on giant screens and guests on stage like Alissa White-Gluz to play the drum. This was one of those concerts that you realize, while you're experiencing it, that you'll never see again, what an honor.
After a moment of relaxation with the background music of Helloweenwe move for the first time of the festival to the Valley for the Loathe and here the festival offers one of its most poetic moments: the beginning of the sunset that lights up the stage while the band builds its romantic and dark show at the same time.
At a certain point the show ends with a tribute riff by “Raining Blood” of Slayer, who gives the A ad “Is It Really You”.
Let's then move on to Malevolencein our opinion one of the best performances of this Hellfest 2026, moreover their absolute debut at the festival.
At the sound of the sirens the band runs onto the stage and from then on it's real chaos: between the guitar instrumentals which alone are enough to unleash the audience, the largest circle pit of the entire day is requested and obtained. The mess simply continues to grow.
To close the evening, i Sabaton they bring their epicness to the stage, a trademark: tank on stage, continuous explosions and fire that warm the crowd from the evening breeze.
Today is the demonstration, once again, of how vast and varied the musical lineup can be in a single day of Hellfest.
Check out the gallery from the second day of Hellfest or browse the gallery below
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
