“Millions die in vain”, goes the lyric on “Blinded” off Hypocrisy’s “Into the Abyss” album (2000). This could apply now. The solid sounds signal menace. The deeply invasive metal tones of Peter Tätgren and his Hypocrisy mates kept me going in the early 00s, and they’re back now after an eight-year absence with their fourteenth album including one in 2005 showing foresight called “Virus”. This is a band for modern times in ambiance and theme.

“Worship”, broadly speaking, is about a mass of humans reaching mindlessly to the sky. The title track is the opener, and amounts to an intense and heavy death metal onslaught. After this brutality, “Chemical Whore” slows things down in what I’d describe as more typical Hypocrisy style. Deep and dark, it drags us with all its weight through the mud and the barbed wire. A cynical sleight at the pharmaceutical industry, it contains such lyrics as “with our expensive pills, we control your fear, we disconnect you and tell you what to feel …. You’re the chemical whore, the make you beg on your knees for more”. The heavy-as-lead music mirrors the dingy corridors of which the lyrics speak. “Greedy Bastards” is about manipulative governments. With a pumping rhythm running through it, the nastiness has a catchy simplicity and an air of revolt, particularly in the chanted chorus. The music conveys the sense of threat but whilst the colourful guitar work signals defiance. Interestingly “Dead World” was written by Tätgren’s son. Again threatening and deathly, it has a deathcore feel. The message is the same: “I see the world dead, with their evil minds and evil plans”. The screams enhance the cynical guitar line. “We’re the Walking Dead” is what I remember best about Hypocrisy. It’s an irrepressible slow march towards death, and epic through its relentless power. This description works for “Brotherhood of the Serpent”, another crashing onslaught which is more about weight and impact than speed. We’re in the thick of it now as “Children of the Gray” overwhelms us with its patient progression of darkest despair and sophisticated musicianship arising from the ashes. And then there are the lyrics: “What a beautiful day to die …. The toxic air will suck down your lungs … rainforests levelled to the ground … when all the hope is gone, you will pave the way for the children of the gray”. This is “Children of the Gray”. Greta Thunberg couldn’t have put it better. Hypocrisy are well into their stride. “Another Day” is more of a thrash fest, but like much of the album it has death elements and a catchy quality. So too “They Will Arrive” is a rampant, surging, epic slab of heavy melodic catchiness. “Bug in the Net” returns us to despairing but somehow uplifting grim reality. This album seems to become more epic with each track, or maybe it’s the cumulative effect of such imperious weight. “Bug in the Net” captures an atmosphere of horror and fear, ending quietly and ominously. It’s the subtle touches which make this album so great. My head initially banged with the drum as we hit the closing track “Gods of the Underworld” before Tätgren and co create for us another frightening dystopian world full of hard-hitting riffs and drums, and replete with a memorable epic chorus. The ambiance and dark flamboyant style capture the majesty of this magnificent album as a whole.

“Worship” is a bold musical and lyrical statement. Hypocrisy’s tried and tested old style mixes with new elements, but it amounts to the same: ritual heaviness and the fusion of topical dark themes with thunderously epic music, all painting the picture of a desperate world.

(9/10 Andrew Doherty)

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