Kev Rowland It is hard to believe that Peter Tägtgren (guitar, vocals), Mikael Hedlund (bass) and Reidar “Horgh” Horghagen (drums), came back together in 2021 to record their first new album in eight years. Horgh has since left the band he has been in since 2004, but one cannot see Tägtgren stopping work on the band he founded all the way back in 1992, 30 years ago. He famously returned to Sweden after living in the States for a while, with a very different view on death metal, releasing the debut album they same year he formed the band and they have been active in both touring and recording ever since, with the current eight-year gap being the longest between any of their albums.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given their following, many people have been raving over the latest release from the melodic death metal merchants, conveniently overlooking one minor fact, it’s not very good. Sure, the playing is top notch as one would expect given those involved (I mean, Horgh joined Immortal all the way back in 1996), but the material just is not there. In some ways it feels like they are going through the motions and I soon found I was wondering how much longer it had to go which is never a good thing when playing an album. Fans will probably get a lot out of this, but for me there is just not enough vitality and variation to make this indispensable.

Kev Rowland It is sometimes hard to go back to classic albums, and wonder what on earth can be said about them that hasn’t already been said a million times before? In 1990 Peter Tägtgren returned to his native Sweden from Florida determined to create a death metal band based on what he has been exposed to in the States. After securing a record deal based on a demo he had recorded by himself, he put together a five-piece band who went into the studio to record ‘Penetralia’ in 1992. Losing second guitarist Jonas Österberg after the release of that album didn’t slow them up at all and the following year they were back in the studio to record the follow-up, after which singer Masse Broberg also departed (he is probably better known these days as Emperor Magus Caligula from Dark Funeral) and they settled down to the trio we all know and love.

In many ways it is strange to realise that here is music that is now some twenty years old, as it is wonderfully diverse and hard hitting and the remastering has allowed the nuances and subtleties to come through without losing any of the power. Although this was a band, some of these songs are just Peter, such as on the title track of the debut where he performs everything himself, no mean feat. There is more than 100 minutes of music here, with a CD for each album plus some additional relevant live numbers. Although Peter had obviously been influenced by what he had been exposed to in America, he was already making the sound just a little darker and a little colder, setting a blueprint for Swedish death metal that bands still follow today. The second album does show a progression as Peter started to stretch his musical wings, working down a path that would ultimately lead to the incredible ‘End of Disclosure’ which was released earlier this year and is essential listening.

But so is this, these two albums were incredibly important to the new scene, and listening to them again today I am amazed that they don’t sound dated at all. They are fresh, vibrant, powerful and massively over the top. Death metal really doesn’t get much better than this.

Warthur Hypocrisy's The End of Disclosure spices up their melodic death metal approach with some almost punk-like gestures of defiance against authority along with a preoccupation with UFOs. Despite the out-there subject matter it's actually one of the more accessible melodic death metal albums I've come across - 44 Double Zero, a tribute to the TV show The 4400, in particular I can almost imagine getting some radio play - so the album might disappoint those in the market for raw, ugly brutality. For my part, though, I think it's some very entertaining light death metal which still packs enough of a punch to save the band from embarrassment, though by that same token it's hardly essential.

Kev Rowland Hypocrisy originally started as a pure solo project, with Peter Tägtgren playing everything on the first demo, but when that gained him a contract with Nuclear Blast he brought together some guys to record ‘Penetralia’. It’s hard to imagine that the guys have been around so long as apart from a short-lived break-up the band have been active throughout. While Peter provides vocals and guitars, he is of course joined by Mikael Hedlund on bass who has been by Peter’s side since the first line-up, and drummer Horgh who came into the band in 2004. Peter has also built up a career as produced with bands such as Dimmu Borgir and of course he has produced this album himself at his Abyss Studio in Sweden. The sound is colossal, with these guys kicking up an incredible onslaught of noise. There has always been a concern in some circles that a death metal band shouldn’t sound so damn commercial and melodic but I have no problem at all with that. This album contains all that one would expect from a death metal band, but as well as the brutality there is a control and understanding of hooks and melody that are often missing.

It’s hard to put into words just how majestic and powerful this album is. From the very first notes of the very first song I knew that this was going to be something special and repeated plays have only only enforced that opinion. There is no doubt in my mind that this is taking them to a whole new level and could well be the album that finally gets them included inside the ranks of the greats of this genre. If you thought that 1993’s ‘Osculum Obscenum’ was impressive you haven’t heard anything yet. This is an essential metal album. www.nuclearblast.de