Review Summary: The self-titling of this album couldn't be more appropriate; this IS Hypocrisy, at their finest and most epic.
Hypocrisy are one of the defining bands of the Swedish metal scene. Led by guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Peter Tägtgren, Hypocrisy have released 12 studio albums as of this writing, and have been associated most prominently with melodic death metal, although they have explored other death metal subgenres. Strangely however, most of Hypocrisy's discography was never supposed to exist at all. The band intended to call it quits after releasing their fifth album, appropriately titled The Final Chapter. It made sense because the band already had a great discography under their belts which included classics such as Penetralia and Abducted, and The Final Chapter was an excellent release, one that would have served very well as the band's "Final Chapter." Thankfully however, support from fans convinced the band otherwise, and the band have since released some of their strongest material to this day. Their first album in this cycle of their career was their 1999 self titled release. This album was very much a gift to fans of the band, but that isn't just because of the fact that Hypocrisy were continuing their career. Everything great about every Hypocrisy album before and since its release is displayed beautifully on this album, and while it may not be the best representation of Hypocrisy's career overall, it does show the band in its finest hour.
When I say finest hour, I don't just mean finest album of Hypocrisy's career. I literally mean this album lasts a little under an hour, 55 minutes to be exact. For most albums, this would be a hugely excessive runtime, as it would indicate the presence of a copious amount of filler tracks. With this album however, that isn't the case. Many of the songs on here have fairly long runtimes, but every second of each one of them kicks some serious ass. You won't want to skip past anything on here. Even with that said, there are plenty of standout moments, and every listener will find personal favorite moments unique to them. I personally enjoy "Elastic Inverted Visions," "Reversed Reflections," and "Fusion Programmed Minds" the most. Everything you might enjoy about Hypocrisy's music can be found here. Melody? Try "Elastic Inverted Visions" and "Paled Empty Sphere." Energy? "Fusion Programmed Minds" and "Reversed Reflections" are about to become your new favorite songs. Also be sure to give a listen to the bonus track on the digipak version of the album, "Self Inflicted Overload." Groove? "Paranormal Mysteria." Thrashiness? "Apocalyptic Hybrid." Epicness? The whole damn thing.
This album is also a very unique part of Hypocrisy's discography in that it doesn't make use of necessarily new ideas, but makes itself seem fresh by improving older ones and bringing them to the front of the mix. The most notable example of this is in Peter Tägtgren's clean vocals. Tägtgren had utilized these sparingly before on albums such as Abducted and The Final Chapter, but they are much more prominent here. It is a known fact that Tägtgren is a remarkable death growler, but he is a surprisingly good (albeit a bit harsh on this album) singer, most notably on the track "Reversed Reflections." The lyrics on this album are your typical Hypocrisy fare, with topics such as alien abduction and the apocalypse, and while they're certainly nothing new, they fit the album well. The idea of creating a very strong atmosphere is also very prominent here. Hypocrisy have always been a fairly atmospheric band, but the apocalyptic, otherworldly atmosphere on this album is acheived flawlessly through use of some clean guitar parts reminiscient of Metallica's "One" and epic songwriting similar to bands such as Children of Bodom. You never feel like the world won't end at any moment while listening to this album. It's as close to perfect melodeth as you can get.
In conclusion, Hypocrisy were easily at their peak with their self titled album, at their most melodic, energetic, apocalyptic, consistent, and atmospheric. Most of Hypocrisy's music before and since has still been fantastic, but none will ever be enough to top this masterpiece. This album is a melodic death metal classic, right up there with Carcass's Heartwork, Arch Enemy's Stigmata, and In Flames' The Jester Race. It truly is an album that defines its genre at its best and serves as the 5/5 standard for albums since. Thank God The Final Chapter wasn't the final chapter...
If you haven't set aside time already to hear this album in its entirity, go and listen to it now. You have remained in the dark for too long.
