Artist: Hypocrisy
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 1996
Rating: 4 Skulls
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Title: Abducted Artist: Hypocrisy Label: Nuclear Blast Release Date: 1996
Rating: 4 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Solomon:
There's little doubt the metal world owes a great debt to one Peter Tagtgren. Not only does he currently front at least two bands, the melodic death of Hypocrisy and the industrial slant of Pain, but he is probably more well-known for his Abyss studio and the multitude of records he has produced there. Tagtgren's production style is wholly "metal" in its outlook. Nearly every record he lays hands on has a sound that is crisp, crunchy and loud as hell, and Hypocrisy's Abducted is no exception. The band itself is at least a decade old, and they started out playing rather brutal death metal on releases such as Penetralia (1992) and Osculum Obscenum (1993). Starting with the Inferior Devoties EP (1993), the band was scaled down to trio with Peter on guitar/vocals, Lars Szoke on drums, and Mikael Hedlund on bass, a line-up which has remained stable to the present. The Fourth Dimension (1994) took the music in a more melodic and atmospheric direction, and this trend continued with Abducted up through today. Abducted is conceived in typical Hypocrisy style: full-out death/thrash songs with a dash of melody and slower, grinding tunes made all the more potent by Tagtgren's trademark gutteral, dirty guitar tone. In fact, of all the so-called "melodic death metal" bands in existence today, Hypocrisy is probably one of the few who actually still deserve to have the "death" tag. Sure, Abducted and subsequent releases have the "Gothenburg" stamp-of-approval, but there is also much more traditional "Florida" fury in Hypocrisy's music than, say, the latest efforts by In Flames and Soilwork.For me, Hypocrisy's output is a little hit-and-miss. I dig a song here and there, and sitting through a whole record can be a bit of a challenge. Abducted is not a bad album, although I found it hard to get into a lot of it. The band always delivers when it comes to a good thrashing, but the trio really excels when it digs in a bit and gets more melodic, like on the opener "Roswell 47." "Killing Art" is another kick-in-the-pants, from the chaotic guitar lines in the intro to the pummeling "chugga-chugga" of the verses. "Carved Up" is actually my favorite song on Abducted. The intro/verse thumps you with a catchy, driving, rumbling low-B riff that really stands out and, simple as it is, the "beat-the-crap-out-of-one-chord-thing" in the middle is worth its weight in mosh value. The last three tracks are real odd-balls compared to the rest of the album. "Reflections" is a brief, majestic synth/symphonic moment, followed by a very commerical-sounding ballad "Slippin' Away." Tagtgren's clean vocals are a bit buried by the music on this track and the next, "Drained." The morose, low-key nature of these songs makes sense with the low-key vocals, but you can't help but feel like Tagtgren's voice should have been brought out more. "Elasticated..." off Hypocrisy (1999) is a better example of the band's slower, "feelier" material, but these last two tracks add a welcome dose of "rock" to the mix. All in all, Abducted is a bold mingling of brutality and beauty, and another jewel in the crown of Sweden's constant output of high-quality, standard-setting metal.
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