Hypocrisy: End of Disclosure (2013)

This just sounds like an appropriate name for an album for an attorney who listens to heavy metal.  To be honest the name of the album completely eluded me for a long time.  The only thing I really cared about was that Hypocrisy had a new album out.  I can honestly say that since 2004's The Arrival, Hypocrisy has been lurking on a short list of my favorite bands.  With this album, they are pretty high on the list.  Hypocrisy have been an amazingly consistent band over the years, with only one real miss as far as albums go.  But this album finds the band at a creative peak that they have sustained for the past few releases.

Figuring out where Hypocrisy fits in in the lauded and impressive Swedish death metal scene has always been a tad difficult.  They never really fit in with the Stockholm groups like Entombed, Dismember, and Grave.  They were far too melodic for that.  They were also too extreme for the Gothenburg groups like Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, and At the Gates.  It is fitting that the band was not from either of those cities, they have always been their own entity, not really sounding much like any of their other famous countrymen.

Here that is evident.  Hypocrisy hits with their typically heavy and atmospheric death metal with plenty of melody to go around.  The album begins with one of the band's usual sci-fi-sounding opening tracks that lays the foundation for the sound to follow.  The second track is one of Hypocrisy's most punishing in years and features one hell of a breakdown.  The album does not feature a single weak track and is a terrific album to get the blood pumping.

Of course the highlight of the album is Peter Tagtren's growling vocals.  Tagtren has been one of the best death metal singers since the advent of the genre.  He proves why he is one of the most influential vocalists in death metal with this album.

Hypocrisy has once again put out an extremely powerful release.  This will likely be a Top 10 album for 2013.