APRIL 30th - MAY 2nd, 2026
KARMOYGEDDON FESTIVAL
2026

Photos & Review By: Polina Kulikovskikh
Galleries Below: 

DAY 1 - http://www.metaltitans.com/concertpics/karmoygeddon-festival-2026-day-1/
DAY 2 - http://www.metaltitans.com/concertpics/karmoygeddon-festival-2026-day-2/
DAY 3 - http://www.metaltitans.com/concertpics/karmoygeddon-festival-2026-day-3/

These days, when it comes to festivals, everyone is competing with one another—booking bigger artists, putting on bigger productions, offering a wider variety of entertainment on site, and so on. And yet bigger doesn't always mean better. Many fans have lately come to the same disheartening conclusion  - it seems the scene lost it's charm. But not all hope is lost - many smaller size festivals still offer a great atmosphere and a great lineup of bands. Karmøygeddon in the Norwegian town Kopervik is a great example of that.

After attending Inferno and Tons of Rock - the most well known Norwegian festivals - for a few years in a row, I thought it's time for something new. I've been eyeing the Karmøygeddon lineup for a while, and it has consistently been strong and versatile. Some bands seem to be particularly frequent guests there, but that's not really unusual. It's a healthy variety of genres too - from black metal to power, glam, folk, death metal - you name it. 

Karmøygeddon festival began in 2004 in Kopervik (on Karmøy island), when Johnny Angelund and Harald Magne Revheim decided to bring their love for music a step further and organised the festival. What first started as a one day event with local bands soon grew into a larger event, booking its first foreign acts. In 2006 the festival moved to a nearby city Haugesund and was held there until 2014 when it returned to the place where it started and is now held in Kopervik where it now attracts around 4,000 metal fans every year. It's held in the last days of April and includes 2 stages with a versatile lineup of bands from different countries. 

Since this is Metal Titans' first visit to the festival, I'll include some practical information here if you, the reader, decide to pay a visit. 

As mentioned earlier, the nearest big city to the festival is Haugesund. You can get there from Oslo by plane and then take a quick car ride to Kopervik (about 15 min). Alternatively, and if you want to make it a bigger road trip, you can fly to Stavanger or Bergen and then take a 2-3 hour car ride. Or if you are like me - you can take a 7 hour car ride from Oslo (I have no regrets - the road is beautiful and you can enjoy mountains, waterfalls and a few stave churches along the way). 

When it comes to accommodation there are a few options listed on the festival's website and most of them are in Haugesund. However, there are other possibilities around if you don't mind a bit of driving. Finding accommodation in Kopervik itself can be difficult, and your best bet would be Airbnb. 

This is not a typical outdoor festival (it would be simply too cold on the West Coast of Norway for that in April) - a smaller stage - Stena stage - is located indoors and the big stage - Gassco stage -  is inside a large tent right next to it, in a place which serves as a parking lot for the rest of the year. To be fair - the way the festival fits into the place is very smart and a great example of resourcefulness. Since Kopervik is a small town, you can hear the music from the main stage anywhere, yet, you can't see the stage easily which makes it feel as if the town itself is radiating it. And in a way, that's true - while in many places in the world metalheads are still often seen as outsiders, here they are very welcome and many big local companies are not ashamed to sponsor the festival. 

The doors on the Stena stage open at 12:00 and the big stage starts roaring at 15:00. Each day featured 12 bands (7 on the main stage and 5 on the smaller one). Some bands' sets overlap each other in the festival schedule, however it’s still possible to see every band if one so desires - the distance between the stages is very short. 

Right next to the main stage there is also a spacious sitting and merch area where it’s possible to buy both bands’ and festival’s own merch which comes in a nice variety and quality. You can even meet some of the musicians, have a chat and get an autograph or a selfie together. 

Some other notable thing that happened this year at Karmøygeddon - Abbath band was auctioning a guitar that has been used during Return of the Ravens Realms tour in order to make a donation to Kreftomsorg Rogaland - a Norwegian organisation providing free psychosocial health care, therapeutic counseling, and social activities for cancer patients, their families, and the bereaved. A very admirable move!

But now finally let’s get to the music. Since the lineup is so extensive, I’m writing about the bands whose sets stood out to me personally, however in no way does that mean that the other bands weren’t good, rather I’m simply not familiar enough with their music or stage performance. 

I saw Wolfheart a couple of years ago at Vulkan in Oslo and their set left a lasting impression on me. They play high-quality Finnish melodic death metal with beautiful guitar melodies and backed by the powerful vocals of Tuomas Saukkonen. Fun fact - in 2024 Wolfheart was the first European heavy metal band to play live in Saudi Arabia. Just like last time when I saw them, they played a very energetic set and the crowd enjoyed it a lot. A perfect start to the first day. The only thing I was missing were huge antlers that decorated the vocal stand last time. 

Djerv is one of the most internationally famous modern Norwegian metal bands, which is not what people usually expect from Norway (and that would be black metal of course). Their music is complex and it’s really hard to put it in one style box, but I’d say that’s what makes it fun. I’ve seen them live quite a few times and every time it was somewhat different, but every time equally entertaining and quite theatrical (in a good way). This time was no exception - the frontwoman Agnete was gorgeous as always, and everyone could feel her energy. 

It was the second time for me seeing Old Man’s Child live (the first one was at Tons Of Rock festival in 2025) and some things have changed since then. If last time it was Hoest (Taake) on vocals, this time it was Galder himself - which was certainly an improvement. The band still plays their music from the past, though I don’t think it would be wrong of me to assume many of us fans would appreciate some new material. 

I expected a bit more from Beyond the Black show (actually I can say the same about Infected Rain who played earlier that day). It’s not my kind of music at all, but I surely heard about the band and was curious to check it out. They're undoubtedly professionals  - every move is thought through and they play well, however it feels a bit too perfect and lacking passion. 

A definite highlight of the first day for me were Dark Tranquility. I’ve been listening to them since 2001 or so and have seen them live a few times. And here you can always feel the passion, especially from Mikael Stanne who walked onto the stage with a huge smile. The setlist was well balanced and included songs both from the latest album Endtime Signals as well as some older material. A total of 16 songs - which is very generous for a festival set. 

The second day of the festival started for me with Danes Iotunn on the Gassco stage. Unfortunately it wasn’t perfect when it came to vocals, but the music was absolutely epic and on point. I'll be curious to see them again this autumn at Spetakkel festival. 

For many fans one of the ultimate highlights of this day was Roy Khan. Roy is probably most famous as the ex-vocalist of Kamelot and, in the opinion of many, still the superior vocalist to the current one  - Tommy Karevik. He was accompanied by musicians from Seven Spires band, including Adrienne Cowan as an extra vocalist. The setlist consisted of classic Kamelot tracks from Roy’s era. Everyone was certainly doing their best, however the sound quality was unfortunately pretty poor. Hopefully there will be better luck in November in Oslo.       

Greek musical giants Septicflesh were one of the top bands for me to see at this year’s Karmøygeddon. The crowd was active right away - crowd surfing and the mosh pit were in full swing. Most of the songs of the setlist were from the last two albums - Modern Primitive and Codex Omega - and only one from my favourite Communion. But I get it - every band has to move on. 

Accept were headlining the day. A truly legendary band that never disappoints. Opening the set with fan favourite Metal Heart, not only did they include their famous hits such as Ball to the Wall and Teutonic Terror, but also songs that haven’t been played live for a very long time - Fight It Back, Hellhammer and a couple of others. Very energetic and high class performance as always. 

Neonfly were opening the third and the last day of the festival for me. I’ve seen them live once before about 14 years ago at Masters of Rock festival and I was very curious about how they had evolved since then. Besides they promised something special as a part of their performance at Karmøygeddon. The show was an absolute blast - the energy of the vocalist Willy Norton is absolutely unmatched! Also the guitarist Frederick Thunder was spitting fire and for a few songs the band was accompanied by dancers on stage.  

Swedes Mustasch were another band of that day’s lineup I was eager to see as I’ve been listening to them for a while, but never seen live. They played a tight set and were surely a success among the audience, but for me it fell a bit flat. I guess I wish it was a bit more energetic when it comes to stage presence. 
Insomnium without a doubt was one of the fan favorites that day. The tent was packed and crowd surfers were landing in the photo pit right from the start. The same thing happened during Clawfinger's set that followed right after. I think those were two sets when the crowd was the most active (topped only by Abbath) and rightfully so - both were great. Very different music - same high energy.  


Stepping out of thick stage smoke, the legendary Abbath (Doom Occulta) was the last headliner of this year’s edition of Karmøygeddon festival. The setlist consisted of Immortal tracks from his days in the band and opened with The Call of the Wintermoon. Unfortunately no fire spitting this time, but otherwise all the classic Abbath trademarks were there - such as crabwalking and typical Abbath faces. The crowd went absolutely wild on each song and the show was undoubtedly a successful one. 

And so Karmøygeddon 2026 came to an end. It was an absolute joy to discover this festival and witness not only the bands’ performances, but also all the hard work and dedication that goes into making the festival happen and keeping it running smoothly. As for the next chapter - a large number of bands for Karmøygeddon 2027 were already announced and if you feel like embarking on this journey - buy your ticket today and join the party next year!