“The Sign of Death Metal Excellence Will Lead Us All – Hypocrisy’s Mighty Return to North America

May 14th, 2022

               From the humble beginnings of finding their sound through the American Death Metal lens in the early 90s, beautifully written lyrical conceptual imagines of alien experience, experimenting with heavier guitars and unique outside genres, to making their classic Melodic Death Metal sound unlike any other, Hypocrisy’s stellar and most shimmering reputation, carries an immense amount of clout, and weight.  Capturing the imagination, the most intense, dedicated hardcore Metal fan, and easily making an impact on the new, casual fan, Hypocrisy’s 31+ year colossal history has certainly made them one of the most important Death Metal based bands, in all of history.  And to celebrate their latest (and hopefully, not last) record, Worship, Hypocrisy announced a North American tour with Carach Angren, The Agonist, and Hideous Divinity, also performing from that record, older songs, and songs the band rarely plays.  An eclectic, supreme quality set from Hypocrisy, is just what 2022, and the world, absolutely needs.

            The Brick by Brick quickly filled up as doors open, and arguably the most brutal band opening the tour, Hideous Divinity.  Technical Brutal Death Metal from Italy, Hideous Divinity’s set continued to fall down the enriching rabbit hole of obscure, dense, and dissonant filled:  all excellent ingredients for superb Death Metal.  The continued spoiling of sensational drummers in Extreme Music, carried forth that torch immediately, as Giulio Galati’s stunning blasting technique, rapid, hard-hitting fills, and proficient ability, took center stage.  Giulio’s wrist technique made the blastbeats look effortless, and provided venom and character, throughout the various tempos Hideous Divinity performed at.  Seeing that there was only one guitar on-stage, I wonder how their latest material’s other melodies and riffing patterns would fair and sound, but nonetheless, Enrico Schettino’s immensely heavy chords, ripping-picked riffs, and a booming stage presence constantly moving and headbanging with ease.  The melting-skin intro to one of their latest songs, “Acheron, Stream of Woe”, showed further progression into creating a black-void like feeling and sonic imagination.  The technical riffs didn’t feel outdated, or the usual dozen.  Vocalist Enrico Di Lorenzo’s beaming and joyous smile, made watching his lurking stage presence and fierce gutturals, all the better to see.  Seeing them with Vader in 2020, this time around I enjoyed their set a greater deal, and hoping to hear this transformation of their new Death Metal elements to fruition, even sooner.   

1.  Acheron, Stream of Woe

2.  Angel of Revolution

3.  Anamorphia Atto III

4.  Chestburst

5.  The Deaden Room

6.  Cobra Verde

            A band I haven’t seen perform in quite some time, The Agonist was met with the same sentiment from the crowd, an exciting, anticipation.   From her angelic-sounding singing and chants, to growls of wicked nature, watching Vicky Psarakis conduct the audience and music was a beautiful, engaging sight to behold.  The operatic vocals worked marvelously well during the breakdowns, and highlighted with the keyboard samples playing in the PA.  Personally speaking, I found myself gravitating towards The Agonist’s ‘moodier’, softer, and melodic music, overall.  On a glancing listen, it might sound ‘chorus-y’, but the sawing gallops from Danny Marino and Pascal Jobin gave those melodies a rope-tight edge.  Despite a lot to like of The Agonist’s performance, the sound quality sounded muddied in whichever place I maneuvered to.  It was difficult to distinguish some of the more technical parts, and at times, a hollow ring to the music.  It’s impossible to get the sound right for every band, for every show, but for a band that doesn’t tour around here too often, I wish the overall sound quality was improved.  Nevertheless, the bright spots for The Agonist were indeed colourful, and the venue cheered and applauded in delight.   

1.  In Vertigo

2.  Blood as My Guide

3.  Remnants in Time

4.  Orphans

5.  Immaculate Deception

6.  Days Before the World Wept

            This lineup has a tasty flavour and dish for everyone, ranging from Technical, Melodic, Brutal, and Symphonic Black.  And, with the gorgeous attire on-stage from Carach Angren, and going right into their sensational classic, “The Sighting is a Portent of Doom”, the floor erupted into an astonishing gaze and hypnotic watch.  I’ve described Carach Angren as “Black Metal Theatre”, with the stunning keyboard/piano elements that set the lyrical concepts to the forefront, and accompany the high-note picking riffs, adding the character to each of the song’s dark nature.  Seregor sounded much like in studio works, with his raspy high screams, alongside the Tell-Tale Heart-like twisted narrative voice for interludes and the select concept albums, seeing it live again encapsuled such a rare, and unique trait the band possesses.  Carach Angren’s latest record, Franckensteina Strataemontanus, focuses on the symphonic elements and story-telling, arguably more than any work they’ve previously done, and in the live setting, Arden’s brilliant multi-keyboard/synth playing, was tremendous in the mix, something I’ll admit wasn’t the brightest case seeing them play with Rotting Christ, several years back.  The title track’s sinking-mud mood, headbanging tempo, gave such a dead in the night sonic theme.  A haunting, dooming atmosphere, the sharp-hitting tremolo notes and matching harmonies with Arden, guitarist “The Butcher” Bastiaan Boh could be heard loudly, and showed off the remarkable 1-2 punch that gives Carach Angren something vividly original.  With their set flying by, and playing off of every record in their discography, Carach Angren’s imagery, fantastic renditions and story-telling performance, was as close to perfect for this evening.  

1.  The Sighting is a Portent of Doom

2.  The Carriage Wheel Murder

3.  The Necromancer

4.  Bitte Totet Mich

5.  In de naam van de duivel

6.  Franckensteina Strataemontanus

7.  A Strange Presence Near the Woods

8.  Monster

9.  Bloodstains on the Captain’s Log

            Three plus years have passed, since Hypocrisy’s last North American tour.  With the longevity of the band, as well as the global pandemic, Planet Metal wasn’t too sure of their future.  And on this epic Spring Saturday evening, the pummeling, gritty guitar tone of Hypocrisy beamed down the Brick by Brick, to an astonished, stunned, and yet rowdy group of heartwarming fans.  “Worship”, the title-track to their most recent album from this past November, the familiar, yet still intriguing harmonious, darkened melodies, opened up this 90-minute spectacular set.  As heavy as Hypocrisy is on record, especially around the era of finding their Melodic Death Metal blueprint, this might have been the loudest, thunderous tone I’ve heard them perform.  Each chugging riff, gallop, speed-picking parts, and all the above, felt like a ton of bricks for breakfast, extra sludge syrup on the side. 

            I’ll admit upfront, over the past several years, as stunning as Hypocrisy’s sets were to see live, at times it felt like the setlists themselves would be slightly predictable.  When it was announced that it was to be a special setlist on this tour, imagining all of the surprises, and different choice cuts, from a band this accomplished and stunning, couldn’t contain the butterflies in the room.  “Don’t Judge Me”, a Death Metal Thrashing, from at the time considered to be a controversial record, Catch 22 (hear the remaster, you’ll be just fine), broke the pit into a furious frenzy of energy and excitement.  The pummeling opening riff sounds even more monstrous than it did 20 years ago upon its inception.  Although considered a classic from the band, “Fire in the Sky” hasn’t been usually played in quite a while, and the mid-tempo, bombastic-sounding chord sustaining found in the verse passage, gives a sharp indicator of Hypocrisy finding many of their strength’s countless years ago.  While hearing about Horgh leaving the band, was definitely unexpected, Henrik Axelsson did a fine job nailing his double-bass attack and shifting tempo changes.  The blast beats in “War-Path” felt the same rumbling speed as previous, and as difficult of shoes that is to fill, Henrik’s presence was a plus.

            The story of the night, and you can make a compelling argument for the whole year:  The sheer magical powers and phenomenal ability from one of the most vastly superior frontmen, to ever grace the stage:  Peter Tagtgren.  From the classic headbanging pose during the breakdowns, criminally underrated rhythm guitarist, and responsible for some of the most well-versed and diverse vocalists in all of Extreme Metal and music, Peter’s impeccable dedication and service to the Metal scene, could be felt by the latest fan.  The mysterious ways of Hypocrisy’s front-facing lyrics and symbolism from the outside world, made true from the drifting, colourful backdrop throughout their set, with several types of colours following many of the musical themes and words Peter exhumed forth out.  “Impotent God”, from the band’s earliest era, blistering Death Metal, to “The Final Chapter”, a sorrowful, disintegrating track with some of the genre’s most profound vocal performances, Peter’s inspiring imagination could be felt from a single pin drop alone.  Nightmares Made Flesh, that’s all that has to be said.  As memorable and hypnotizing as Carach Angren’s set was previous, Hypocrisy left the crowd wanting all it could handle, ending their set on a 4-song encore, that left the Brick by Brick, all carved up.

            It feels different looking back at the careers of the all-time greats, dissecting each album and their nooks and crannies.  And, for over 30+ years, Hypocrisy’s priceless footprint has brought the Metal world, all the closer to finding out what’s beyond, as well as outstanding Death Metal, in Melodic, Brutal, and different ways.  Hoping this isn’t their last tour, as our music scene would suffer without Hypocrisy in it. A spellbinding dusk.       

1.  Worship

2.  Fire in the Sky

3.  Mind Corruption

4.  Eraser

5.  Inferior Devoties

6.  Chemical Whore

7.  Until the End

8.  Don’t Judge Me

9.  End of Disclosure

10.  Weed Out the Weak

11.  Children of the Gray

12.  War-Path

13.  The Final Chapter

--------------------------------------------

14.  Fractured Millennium

15.  Impotent God

16.  Adjusting the Sun

17.  Roswell 47