Hypocrisy
- MEMBERS:
- Peter Tägtgren - Vocals & Guitars & Keys
- Mikael Hedlund - Bass
- Reidar "Horgh" Horghagen - Drums
BIOGRAPHY
Feigning to be what one is not is something Renaissance man Peter Tägtgren can never be accused of. A living embodiment of music (who has also appeared in three films and written music for one), Tägtgren has been a central and active figure in the extreme metal movement for over a decade. With a list of Abyss Studio production credits (Dimmu Borgir, Immortal, Marduk) linking him to some of the most groundbreaking albums of recent times and rightfully hailed by Alternative Press as the Rick Rubin of Scandinavian metal, the restless genius of Peter Tägtgren can be equally measured by the vast list of his own musical output. A well-known insomniac workaholic who lives life at a relentless pace, the vice of Tägtgren’s work ethic has proven to be virtuous for the underground scene. 2005’s Virus boasts a lethal combination of reptilian vocals, powerful percussion, grandiose atmospherics, and symphonic requiems, truly revisiting all previous parts of the HYPOCRISY catalogue. Once Virus infects you with its beautifully brutal and painstakingly produced music, a worldwide pandemic is inevitable.
After closing the door on his band Seditious following their 3- and 5-song Life Of Pain demos, guitarist Tägtgren formed HYPOCRISY in Sweden as a quintet in the early 90s after having briefly lived in Florida in the late 80s and occasionally drumming for Malevolent Creation. The inaugural line-up included Masse Broberg on vocals, Mikael Hedlund on bass, Jonas Osterberg on guitar, and Lars Szöke on drums. This first incarnation released Penetralia in 1992 (with its heavy Morbid Angel, Deicide, and Entombed influences), but it was 1993’s Obsculum Obscenum when the metal underground took notice of the purity of HYPOCRISYs old-school death metal approach combined with the unbridled fury of the burgeoning black metal genre. 1994’s Inferior Devotees five-song EP showcased the Tagtgren / Hedlund / Szoke line-up that most would come to associate with HYPOCRISY, though equally notable was Tägtgren permanent switch to lead vocals. The Fourth Dimension, 1994’s full-length studio album, showcased Tägtgren vocal range and also introduced keyboards, melodies, and slower tempos into HYPOCRISYs musical cartography.
With 1996’s excellently produced Abducted, Tägtgren began to share his lifelong childhood fascination that would become his modus operandi: themes & lyrics about extraterrestrials. Introducing Roswell 47 (a song destined for set list immortality) and securing an infinite amount of future writing material, HYPOCRISY continued to prioritize moods over strict adherence to any one musical genre, and therefore pursued a legacy of sonic alchemy that could be death, black, thrash, and even gothic at any given moment. The dirtier sound of 1997’s The Final Chapter reached a wider audience with its fluid elements; however, rumors circulated that the album title was broadcasting the bands dissolution. Clearly, the strains of writing and producing HYPOCRISYs music and lacking the time to further develop his own electronic/industrial side-project with clean vocals (Pain) led Tägtgren to choose between HYPOCRISY’s career and Abyss Studios continued existence. Swayed by worldwide fan pleas and weary from the unrelenting requests to produce records for other bands, his decision was made easier by a contagious desire to experience a Swedish summer outside the confines of a studio control room, to tour more (and perform half-naked!), and use Abyss Studios solely to record his own bands, as well as a few select bands.
1999’s self-titled album hijacked HYPOCRISY’s retirement and a renewed vigor marked the bands reformation, elegantly captured in the song Fractured Millenium. The tracks on 2000’s death-drenched Into The Abyss were captured in a few weeks, and were an exercise in spontaneity that resulted in a display of energy so raw, it proved that a bands death metal origins could propel music into exciting new landscapes. In 2001, HYPOCRISY fans around the world were invited to choose the track listing for the 10 Years Of Chaos & Confusion box set, with all chosen songs released prior to 1996’s Abducted re-recorded to drench them in a heavier production. Always determined to evolve their style, HYPOCRISY never seemed content with the stagnant lethargy of a redundant sound. Answering to no one but themselves and borrowing a title from Joseph Hellers classic tale of contradiction, Catch 22 was released in 2002 and reared a savagely experimental and evolutionary attitude. Touring North America that year with Killswitch Engage, Soilwork, and Scar Culture, fans were treated to addictive doses of HYPOCRISYs live, vile aggression. Honoring the pledge to tour more, HYPOCRISY was noticeably affected by their pillaging of North America in late 2003 with Dimmu Borgir, Nevermore, and Children Of Bodom and numerous sold-out shows. It came as no surprise that 2004’s The Arrival had a predisposition of urgency, though it also came to be long-time drummer Lars Szöke’s swansong. Former Immortal/Grimfist drumming machine Reidar “Horgh” Horghagen a man Tägtgren had long admired replaced childhood friend Szöke (who also played in Tägtgren’s school band, Conquest) not only for the bands upcoming tour with Cannibal Corpse, Exhumed, and Vile, but as a permanent member. Procuring passport stamps from various countries in Europe and South America, HYPOCRISY returned to North America in the spring of 2005 with Soilwork, Dark Tranquillity, and Mnemic to harvest some frenetic momentum before heading into the studio to record their latest album.
Its the inherent dignity in Virus that affirms why HYPOCRISY continues to impact todays extreme metal scene even after more than a decade of existence. The aural spectrum enveloping the tormented opening scream on War Path, the punishing guitar riffs on Craving For Another Killing, the time-honored gallop in Scrutinized (featuring a guitar solo by Gary Holt of Exodus), the melancholy melody of Incised Before Ive Ceased, and the collective manifestation of the bands Thanatos in Blooddrenched is where HYPOCRISY exhibits their dauntless and valiant death instinct. The new HYPOCRISY songs roar with dynamism that the band never before grasped, proclaims Metal Maniacs, and no truer truth could be spoken. With the bassassinations of Mikael Hedlund, the percussive endeavors of Horgh, and the addition of newly permanent / long-time live guitarist Andreas Holma (a death metal musician with a jazz background who moonlights as a fretless bass player), HYPOCRISY continues to be led by the man who considers freedom to explore and create the most contagious virus known to humankind. Making music is no job, its an adventure, and Peter Tägtgren is on a worldwide mission to infect the masses at all costs…sleep be damned.
DISCOGRAPHY
End Of Disclosure / 2013
1. End of Disclosure
2. Tales of Thy Spineless
3. The Eye
4. United We Fall
5. 44 Double Zero
6. Hell Is Where I Stay
7. Soldier of Fortune
8. When Death Calls
9. The Return
“End of Disclosure” is the twelfth studio album by the Swedish death metal band Hypocrisy. The album was released on March 22, 2013. To promote the album, Nuclear Blast released the music video “Tales of Thy Spineless” on April 4.
Frontman Peter Tägtgren described “End of Disclosure’ as a “back to basics” album. He indicated that the album was written after reflecting on the preceding albums, for which he felt that the band “lost it”. By contrast, Tägtgren described End of Disclosure as “straight to the point. It’s more Hypocrisy than ever — the fast, the heavy, the epic.”
The album received moderately positive reviews, with critics noting that the album would appeal to the band’s fanbase but did not advance Hypocrisy’s sound. Chris Dick, writing for Decibel Magazine, criticized “End of Disclosure” for its “potluck songwriting”, which gave the impression that the album was “cycling through various stages of Hypocrisy’s (and the Abyss’s) repertoire, giving it a shiny, modern coat of paint and calling it an album”.Natalie Zed, writing for About.com, praised the album for the “menace and hostility” of its atmosphere but described it as “an album that revisits familiar themes rather than break[s] new ground”. Laura Wiebe, writing for Exclaim!, claimed that the album accomplished Peter Tägtgren’s intended goal of going “back to basics”, but also noted that the album generally “roll[ed] out more like a highlight reel of Hypocrisy’s specialties”.
A Taste Of Extreme Divinity / 2009
1.”Valley of the Damned”
2.”Hang Him High”
3. “Solar Empire”
4.”Weed out the Weak”
5. “No Tomorrow”
6. “Global Domination”
7. “Taste the Extreme Divinity”
8. “Alive”
9. “The Quest”
10. “Tamed (Filled With Fear)”
11. “Sky Is Falling Down”
Bonus tracks:
12. “The Sinner”
13. “Taste the Extreme Divinity (2008 Demo)”
14. “Valley of the Damned (2008 Demo)”
“A Taste of Extreme Divinity” is the eleventh studio album by the Swedish death metal band Hypocrisy. The album was released on October 23, 2009, in Europe and on November 3 in the United States. The North American version contains three bonus tracks.
Catch 22 V2.0.08 / 2008
1. “Don’t Judge Me”
2. “Destroyed”
3. “Edge of Madness”
4. “A Public Puppet”
5. “Uncontrolled”
6. “Turn the Page”
7. “Hatred”
8. “Another Dead End (For Another Dead Man)”
9. “Seeds of the Chosen One”
10. “All Turns Black”
On May 9, 2008, Hypocrisy‘s “Catch 22” album was re-released as “Catch 22 V2.0.08”. Peter Tägtgren re-recorded the vocals and guitar parts and remixed and remastered the album. He said on the official site, “We still think it is a great fucking album but it got slammed and misunderstood because of the vocal style and the drumsound and so on.”
Virus / 2005
1. XVI
2. War-Path
3. Scrutinized
4. Fearless
5. Craving for Another Killing
6. Let the Knife Do the Talking
7. A Thousand Lies
8. Incised Before I’ve Ceased
9. Blooddrenched
10. Compulsive Psychosis
11. Living to Die
Virus is the tenth studio album by the death metal band Hypocrisy, released on September 19, 2005. This is the first Hypocrisy album recorded with their new drummer, Horgh (Reidar Horghagen), from the black metal band Immortal and second guitarist, Andreas Holma. A video was made for the song “Scrutinized”.
Early pressings of the CD were sold with a thirteen-song limited edition live DVD, with 12 songs recorded in Strasbourg on Hypocrisy’s 2004 tour as support of Cannibal Corpse, and from a different show they play the song “Total Disaster” by Destruction along with the band’s vocalist and bass guitar player Marcel ‘Schmier’ Schirmer. Some CDs have a bonus track, “Watch Out”, which appears to be a demo of a song recorded in 2000.
Some early pressings have an error where a scratch sound can be heard on tracks 6 and 11. The Nuclear Blast record label said it would mail a replacement to anyone who had one of these glitched discs.
The Arrival / 2004
1.Born Dead Buried Alive
2.Eraser
3.Stillborn
4.Slave to the Parasites
5.New World
6.The Abyss
7.Dead Sky Dawning
8.The Departure
9.War Within
The Arrival is the ninth studio album by Hypocrisy, released in 2004. It is the last album with their long-time drummer, Lars Szöke. The song, “Eraser” was made as a video. The album was also released in a strictly limited boxset (cat.-no. NB 1230-5) containing “The Arrival”, eight postcards and a bonus DVD of Hypocrisy’s complete live show at Summer Breeze Festival in 2002.
Dan Swanö (tracks 1, 3, 4, 7-9) and Silenoz (track 5) wrote lyrics for the album. The band wrote lyrics for track 2 and Tägtgrenalso wrote lyrics for tracks 4-6.[2]
Catch 22 / 2002
1.”Don’t Judge Me”
2.”Destroyed”
3.”Edge of Madness”
4.”A Public Puppet”
5.”Uncontrolled”
6.”Turn the Page”
7.”Hatred”
8.”Another Dead End (For Another Dead Man)”
9.”Seeds of the Chosen One”
10.”All Turns Black”
Catch 22 is the eighth studio album by Hypocrisy, released in 2002.
Into The Abyss / 2000
1.”Legions Descend”
2.”Blinded”
3.”Resurrected”
4.”Unleash the Beast”
5.”Digital Prophecy”
6.”Fire in the Sky”
7.”Total Eclipse”
8.”Unfold the Sorrow”
9.”Sodomized”
10.”Deathrow (No Regrets)”
Into the Abyss is an album released by Hypocrisy in 2000.
Hypocrisy / 1999
1.”Fractured Millennium”
2.”Apocalyptic Hybrid”
3.”Fusion Programmed Minds”
4.”Elastic Inverted Visions”
5.”Reversed Reflections”
6.”Until the End”
7.”Paranormal Mysteria”
8.”Time Warp”
9.”Disconnected Magnetic Corridors”
10.”Paled Empty Sphere”
11.”Selfinflicted Overload” (Digipak bonus track)
Hypocrisy is the sixth studio album by the Swedish death metal band Hypocrisy, released in 1999. The digipak version of the album includes the bonus track, “Self Inflicted Overload”. The Japanese release of the album includes three bonus tracks: “Self Inflicted Overload”, a demo version of “Elastic Inverted Visions” and “Falling Through the Ground”.
The Final Chapter / 1997
1.”Inseminated Adoption”
2.”A Coming Race”
3.”Dominion”
4.”Inquire Within”
5.”Last Vanguard”
6.”Request Denied”
7.”Through the Window of Time”
8. “Shamateur”
9. “Adjusting the Sun”
10.”Lies”
11. “Evil Invaders” (Razor cover)
12. “The Final Chapter”
The Final Chapter is the fifth studio album by Hypocrisy, released in 1997. The album was originally intended to be the band’s “final chapter” but due to immense fan response the band decided to continue. The limited edition shaped CD did not include the track, “Evil Invaders”.
Abducted / 1996
Abducted is the fourth studio album released by Hypocrisy. It is the album where the band started to change its sound. On this release melodic death metal was brought into the original death metal sound. It was also released as a limited edition digipak, not to be confused with the non-limited edition digipak re-release.
The samples in the intro, “The Gathering”, are taken from the so-called Halt Tape, which was allegedly recorded during the Rendlesham Forest incident on 26 December 1980.
The Fourth Dimension / 1994
1.”Apocalypse”
2.”Mind Corruption”
3.”Reincarnation”
4.”Reborn”
5.”Black Forest”
6.”Never to Return”
7.”Path to Babylon”
8.”Slaughtered”
9. “Orgy in Blood”
10.”The North Wind”
11.”T.E.M.P.T.”
12.”The Fourth Dimension”
13.”The Arrival of the Demons (Part 1)”
The Fourth Dimension is the third studio album by Hypocrisy, released on October 25, 1994. The limited edition digipak (cat.-no. NB 112-2 DIGI), not to be confused with the digipak re-release, had “The Abyss” instead of “The Arrival of the Demons”. This track was later re-recorded for The Arrival album. The digipak re-release contains two bonus tracks: “Request Denied” and “Strange Ways” taken from the Maximum Abduction EP. After the departure of vocalist Masse Broberg, Hypocrisy’s lyrics began to focus more on the paranormal and science fiction. The person on the cover is Mikael Hedlund, Hypocrisy’s bass guitar player.
Osculum Obscenum / 1993
1. Pleasure Of Molestation
2. Exclamation Of A Necrofag
3. Osculum Obscenum
4. Necronomicon
5. Black Metal (Venom cover)
6. Inferior Devoties
7. Infant Sacrifices
8. Attachment To The Ancestor
9. Althotas
“Osculum Obscenum” is a second studio album by Hypocrisy, released on 12th October 1993.
Penetralia / 1992
1. Impotent God
2. Suffering Souls
3.Nightmare
4. Jesus Fall
5. God Is a…
6. Left to Rot
7. Burn by the Cross
8. To Escape Is to Die
9. Take the Throne
10. Penetralia
“Penetralia” is the first studio album by Hypocrisy, released on 5 October 1992.
REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS
Hypocrisy: New York City, March 31, 2019
It was an event nearly eleven/twelve years in the making. Maybe ten. I’ve lost count. But it has been a very long time since I was able to see Hypocrisy
April 9, 2019 by Nikki KatsiTOURDATES
| Date | Venue | City | Country | Info | Tickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-11-17T14:00:00 | MxMF 2024 | Ciudad De México | Mexico | Info | Tickets |
| 2025-08-14T19:00:00 | Rock Castle 2025 | Moravský Krumlov | Czechia | Info | Tickets |
| 2025-08-30T14:00:00 | Posada Rock 2025 | Câmpulung | Romania | Info | Tickets |