L to R: Horgh, Tägtgren, and Hedlund
Hypocrisy are a Swedish Melodic Death Metal band that originally started off as an OSDM. Originally named Seditious, Founder Peter Tägtgren was living in Florida until 1990, where he decided to start his own Death Metal band. Notable for their American sound back in the day, they have since then shifted to their current style.
The band started with Magnus "Masse" Broberg of Dark Funeral fame on vocals and the lyrics for the first two albums, while Tagtgren would be on guitars. When Magnus left, Tägtgren took over as both the vocalist and lyricist. When that happened, the lyrics begun to change.
In 1997, Tägtgren decided he wanted to stop writing music and continue strictly as a producer with The Final Chapter. However, due to demand from fans, he continued to write music.
Members:
- Peter Tägtgren – vocals, guitar, synthesizer (1990–present)
- Mikael Hedlund – bass (1992–present)
Past Members:
- Lars Szöke – drums (1990–2004)
- Magnus "Masse" Broberg – vocals (1992–1993)
- Jonas Österberg – guitar (1992–1995)
- Andreas Holma – guitar (2000–2006)
- Reidar "Horgh" Horghagen – drums (2004–2022)
Discography:
- Penetralia (1992)
- Osculum Obscenum (1993)
- The Fourth Dimension (1994)
- Abducted (1996)
- The Final Chapter (1997)
- Hypocrisy (1999)
- Into the Abyss (2000)
- Catch 22 (2002; rerecorded in 2008)
- The Arrival (2004)
- Virus (2005)
- A Taste of Extreme Divinity (2009)
- End of Disclosure (2013)
- Worship (2021)
Tropes displayed by this Band:
- Author Appeal: If Peter's solo band PAIN's music videos or his lyrics have anything to say, he really likes aliens.
- Big Brother Is Watching: Scrutinized.
- Careful with That Axe: Peter Tägtgren's shrieks have this effect.
- Censored Title: "God is A..." intentionally left out the last word. Which is "Lie"
- Conspiracy Theorist: Most of their songs are written from this point of view, most notably on End of Disclosure.
- Cover Version: "Black Metal" by Venom, "Strange Ways" by KISS, "Evil Invaders" by Razor, "Too Drunk to Fuck" by Dead Kennedys, and "They Lie by The Exploited.
- Darker and Edgier: Compared to other Swedish melodeath bands.
- Death Metal: A fusion of Brutal death metal and Melodic Death Metal.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Their first two albums were straight-up old-school death metal.
- Epic Rocking:
- "Penetralia" is 6:34 minutes long.
- "Pleasure of Molestation" off Osculum Obscenum is 6:01 minutes long.
- "Elastic Inverted Visions" and "Paled Empty Sphere" from the Self-Titled Album are also 6 minutes long.
- As is "The Return" from End of Disclosure.
- Harsh Vocals: Mosse had a more guttural roar, while Tägtgren shifts between blackened shrieks and mid-pitched growls.
- I Am the Band: Peter Tägtgren.
- Identical Stranger: Peter Tagtgren looks like a sleep-deprived Johnny Depp.
- Lead Bassist: Mikael is a type A and C.
- Lighter and Softer: PAIN, Tägtgren's Industrial Metal solo project, is this compared to Hypocrisy.
- Loudness War: Just about all of their releases are massively clipped and brickwalled, and Tägtgren is a war criminal in the loudness war. Some fans consider his production style as an important contributor to their music's overall hardness.
- Virus is the absolute worst offender of this.
◊ - Some of the LP editions, such as the Self-Titled Album, avert this. The vinyl of Hypocrisy seems to have been mastered from a separate, less clipped, source.
- Virus is the absolute worst offender of this.
- Meaningful Name: Catch 22 V. 2.0.08 is the re-recording of the original released back in 2002. The V 2.0.08 stands for 2008, when it was rerecorded and released.
- Melodic Death Metal: One of the darker examples of the genre alongside At the Gates, Fleshgod Apocalypse and The Black Dahlia Murder.
- Metal Scream: Broberg utilized a Type 2. Peter Tägtgren's vocal style is somewhere between Type 1 and Type 2, with some Type 3s thrown in for good measure.
- Religion Rant Song: "Alive".
- Rock Me, Asmodeus!: This was their main lyrical theme when Broberg was in the band.
- Special Guest: Gary Holt on "Scrutinized" and Jonas Kjellgren on "Tales of Thy Spineless".
- Soprano and Gravel: Peter throws clean vocals into their music on occasion, with their self-titled featuring them the most prominently.
