The Arrival

The return to normality after the breaking the routine of "Catch 22" ("Into The Abyss" was also breaking, but let's not change my narrative) turned out to be salutary for Hypocrisy. "The Arrival" brought back everything that is melo-death, steeped in s-f and Scandinavian atmosphere, and at the same neatly composed to be able to buy blindly and not be disappointed with stylistic volts. It also excludes the chances of bigger changes, but well, the previous album clearly showed that the Swedes do not need such solutions in particular. At the "The Arrival" period, the trio decided not to go beyond the unknown and left to their devices.

So melodic death metal has come to favor, but the whole cd was spiced up with...modern sauce! *tick, the whole positive tone of the review is in ruins* Anyway, there is no need to lie, "The Arrival" is, yes, a return to normality, but relatively safe and very weak - far from the level of "Abducted", for example. What's worse, even style of "The Final Chapter" was hard to count on. On the discussed album, Tägtgren and the rest of the band decided then to go into the worst sort of melo-death: sleek and with overly pretty melodies. The slow/ballad/atmospheric patents are obviously not fatal, indeed, some are really nice (and do not differ from the pre-"Catch 22" albums), but the problem is that the band stuffed too much of it here. As a result, it does not overlap with heavier playing and fits perfectly into definition of modern melo-death, where the word "death" is a huge abuse.

With such a disproportion, one gets the impression that the Swedes would like to compete with bands like Children Of Bodom. The number of banal melodies, (overwhelming) screeching vocals, non-engaging patterns, pushing the heaviness somewhere on the background - all this on "The Arrival" strongly refers to Alexi Laiho's group. Sure, these patents are promising in this list and are steeped in the old style like "Born Dead, Burried Alive", "The Abyss", "Stillborn" or "Eraser", although there are too many shallows in them to be categorized as equally good to the possibilities of this band. Worse, there are even fewer positive conclusions about the remaining ones that have not been mentioned. Surprisingly, even I, generally accepting the softer style of Hypocrisy, could not get through these songs without being disgust from the enormous amount of sugar they contained.

Hypocrisy's first return to - allegedly - classic, melo-death sounds is not very successful. The enormity of elements weakens on it: melodies, ideas, atmosphere, song structures - almost everything. Contrary to "Catch 22", yeah, "The Arrival" has some sense and general idea for the music. But it's a pity that this one still resembles a shadow of this band's capabilities.

Originally on: https://subiektywnymetal.blogspot.com/2020/08/hypocrisy-arrival-2004.html

Hypocrisy have spent a decade turning into a melodic alien abduction metal band and while it might've only been hinted at on previous releases, the album cover here is literally aliens glaring at the buyer, with the title 'The Arrival'. It's almost symbolic of the arrival of Hypocrisy to the point they were meaning to reach this whole time, although that doesn't mean this is necessarily their best album.

The tone of the album is generally a lot less sorrowful or heavy as on the earlier records. It feels like Tägtgren and company opted for a more concise sound, focused more on tight song-writing and producing shorter, more homogeneous songs. The tracks are usually simple in structure and more obvious with what they're meant to do, and less abstract than previously. The heavy parts are particularly simple, possibly even reminiscent of nu-metal at times with some of the low-tuned riffing ('Stillborn'), or have that rock n roll (or "death n roll") feel with the start/stop guitar power chords and vocals over just bass and drums. The album besides those specific aspects is rather typical Scandinavian flavored thrash, or melo-death alternatively.

A lot of the material is fairly generic by Hypocrisy's set standards for the record; the harmonized melo-death stuff will sound redundant and the heavier tough guy parts unnecessary, perhaps even beneath them; but it could be separated into two distinct areas: conventional melo-death/groove Hypocrisy, and deep and somber classic Hypocrisy. And it's about a 65/35 split for the album, two thirds rather generic/one third genuinely authentic.

The opener 'Born Dead Buried Alive' with its darkly charming twin lead harmony is a lot closer to what one might expect given the mystery/subtle horror imagery the band are attempting to communicate, on an otherwise fairly benign album atmosphere-wise. 'Eraser', the video-clip single, has a bit of magic to it as well and the main melody is equally as enticing, still with that dark alluring quality. The song is the best of its kind on the record, with each part as good as the next (intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus or middle lead section) and a very well conducted crescendo towards the highly melodic yet subtly obscure chorus; a track that fits the mysterious alien theme well. 'The Abyss' features Tägtgren's unique clean lows that had been such a peculiar trademark of the band's so far and that chorus sees a return to that awe-inspiring/otherworldly atmosphere Hypocrisy had built a major part of their success on.

'The Departure' is the last top notch song that'll be mentioned here: absolutely captivating chorus with another one of those dark chromatic chord progressions discreetly slipped in, with that heavenly choir presence in the back. The deep sorrow that was there before in their discography is here in full effect. Given how ordinary the last track is, it's probably a shame they didn't opt to end the album with this one instead.

Hypocrisy do not need an introduction, for they have been in the Swedish metal scene for quite a while now. Peter Tägtgren, the mastermind behind the band is well-known for being both a producer, as well as a brilliant musician himself. Back in the 90s he drew his inspiration from the Swedish metal scene and while being in America, from the boys of "Malevolent Creation". It seems that the polarity, which Hypocrisy have created within their own fanbase and discography is a quite odd one. Starting from the very anti-religious orientation of their first works and in respect of such discrepancy which their newer, more science-fiction oriented themes represent, Hypocrisy have managed to induce the splitting of their fanbase. In other words: Peter Tägtgren has been a grey alien geek for over 8 years, this being the pinnacle of his... let's call it obsession, but I'll leave that one for other critics.

The direction he has taken is not necessarily bad, it's actually quite refreshing for the most part, as is this album. Now the first thing that jumps in the eye is the strange fuzzy and blurry production. This is becoming a reoccurring aspect in most albums Peter produces. The sound patterns seem to flow into each other, creating a very strange sound pattern, which is better known under the term "Swedish sound" to some. The only thing that differs is the modern and futuristic approach Peter infuses the guitar and keyboard sound with. In his eyes, and I agree for the most part, the trauma and angst the scenario in the concept is supposed to cause is reflected beauteously. Blasting moments followed by very impressive tapping melodies on guitar are underlined with very typical and heavy Swedish death metal riffing. All aspects seem to elevate the listener.

Now, the whole point of this album is to abduct (Peter would kiss me for using this word) the listener into the entire dream-like concept spawned from an infectious, yet appealing and creative mind. So aliens are attacking/taking over, whatever... Peter has lost his mind, but this is nothing new. One can imagine being in the middle of the whole alien thing, but to be serious, the music on the LP actually conveys a bit more than a simple science fiction trauma. The deep emotion emitting from this album is almost mesmerizing. Transcendental perception of whatever can lie beyond and inside the human mind is presented in an almost trivial manner. Be it fast, pounding and discharging songs with a overviewable structure or slow and laggard "ballads", every track is as heavy and without compromise as you would expect it. We even have deep built in chanting to further nail down the whole conception. This puts Hypocrisy in a point where they have reached mystical status amongst the modern metal scene. The existence of this album is the perfect example for how modern science fiction can coexist with amazingly authentic sentiments and of course, heavy metal without compromise. Despite the fact that the main theme for "War Within" shares the same melody as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", there is absolutely nothing wrong with this record.

Very,... no, HIGHLY recommended.

While certainly not the death metal comeback we expected, at least this is better than Catch 22. Hypocrisy have certainly travelled some odd terrain in the past few years, and The Arrival is no different. Musically, there is some return to form to some fairly lethal death/thrash, but it's always done in moderation. ("Born Dead, Buried Alive" is a good example.) Otherwise, Hypocrisy tried out a more experimental Gothenburg sound here, with moderate success. Many of the songs are more or less calculated off of basic rock formulas and structures; this certainly does give this album a somewhat commercial slant, along with the oft-melodic lead lines and larger-than-life choruses in songs like "Eraser." For the most part, it works quite well if you're a newbie to the band and are into melodic death metal with an epic feel to it. But, most old fans shook their head in disblief and disappointment... or just flamed the hell out of the album.

The thing that sets this apart from most Hypocrisy albums is the fact that this is definitely an accessible album. Since everything is very calculated and predictable in the music, and the distinct Swedish flavor to the riffs seems to be the order of the day, most people who are into newer In Flames or Dark Tranquillity will dig this album to no end. (Especially the latter, since there are HUGE resemblances in sound here.) It's safe to say that the majority of the songs here could have been singles, because they all have the same powerful choruses and genral "catchiness." This is persistent through the album's course, even on the heavier numbers like "New World." This does work in small doses, but things will blend together about halfway through the album.

On an instrumental level, Hypocrisy are on the safe side here. The guitars revolve around either simple melodic leads, spaced-out barre/power chords, or the occasional hearkening back to semi-brutal tremolo picking. Sadly, the latter is only a teaser and doesn't really do anything special for the songs; these parts seem to only make us wish for more of the old Hypocrisy. Everything in the guitar department is dead simple; some call it powerful, I call it a lack of ideas and laziness. Some ear-candy solos and harmonies pop up every now and then, but never really break the barrier of typical Gothenburg metal. Lars' drums plod along at mid-tempo rock beats, with some occasional thrash beats or double bass battery. But, like the rest of the instrumentation, it shows no ambition or energy. The only thing that even somewhat interesting is the synth work, and even that is limited to background ambience.

As a composer and lyricist, Peter went off the deep end. Catch 22 delved into the sci-fi side of things, but The Arrival is a concept album based entirely on aliens and alien abduction. Crazy shit... I can't say too much about lyrics, because they're not printed; fortunately, most of them can be perfectly understood without having anything to look, thanks to the slightly different vocal style used. Things here are more along the lines of the early Swedish death vocals; more of a gritty, raspy scream than a normal death growl. There are some very subtle clean vocals on "The Abyss" and several other tracks, but are obscured by the screams, thankfully.

If there is one thing I had to name that really boosts The Arrival, it's the production. Abyss never fails in delivering a huge, massive, and thick sound with fabulous sparkling guitar tone, reverbed vocals, and deep, pounding drums. Otherwise, this album is just a half-baked experimentation with what has already been acheived in Gothenburg. Aside from a few keeper tracks for the sake of catchiness, skip this one. After all, Virus would prove to be a truly triumphant return for the band.

Favorite tracks: "Eraser," "Slave to the Parasites," "The Abyss," "Dead Sky Dawning."

For this release Peter changed his vocal style. We have been listening to the same kind of screams for years in Hypocrisy, and we were getting bored, so there is a new kind of vocals, more insane, more despaired. The previous style is still there, but mixed with the new one. The guiter lines have also changed. Peter uses more silences here and there, which makes the music even heavier. He seems to be not concerned anymore in extremely fast hammering, but in using different composition techniques in order to achieve the most intense effect in the listener. They keep using minor and major chords which, as they have already proved us, produces a dramatical effect. They, it must be said, recovered some of their early musical recourses and mixed them with the style they had been working on. I mean that Hypocrisy remembered Penetralia and Obsculum Obscenum albums and mixed their rough brutality with the virtuousness of the following releases, as it may be The Final Chapter of Hypocrisy. After more than 12 years of existence as a band, Hypocrisy achieved what many bands will never achieve: they got their own unique style: a mix of their early works with their new style created a completely new and unique style. I believe that The Arrival is by far Hypocrisy's best album. The highlights: Born Dead Buried Alive, Eraser, New World, War Within.

With the arrival of….uh….The Arrival we are given what is considered a return to Hypocrisy’s old form of true death metal. This was actually the first Hypocrisy album I bought so I don’t claim to be an expert on the band but I can tell you that while this sound is back to a more death metal sound it’s not quite the same sound Hypocrisy used on earlier albums. The most notable difference is that this album has more of a melodic side. But putting that aside I still wouldn’t consider this to be a melodic death album at all it just employs some of the elements at times.

Ok now that we’ve got that little history lesson and current events issue out of the way we can get to what actually matters and that’s the music itself. This is a very solid release by Hypocrisy. There really isn’t a bad song on the entire album but there are some very stand out tracks.

“Born Dead Buried Alive” isn’t really what I would call one of the stand out tracks but it’s close. It’s a very good song but I wish they would have used the faster part in the middle more or at least sped up the song in some way because I find myself only listening the first 2 minutes of the song to get to the good part in the middle. I really don’t think this should have been the opening track.

“Eraser” is the second song and was also the single. Hypocrisy also shot a video for this song which is really cool. You should check it out. The song itself is probably the best on the album in my opinion, but it is also a prime example of melodic death influences that this album has. The opening bass riff grabs you instantly and the chorus has a sing-a-long quality to it. This may turn off some older fans but I have always lived by the rule that ‘catchy is not bad’.

The third song, “Stillborn,” is another one of the better tracks on the album. The opening riff is very cool and gets you hooked immediately. This is another one of the songs where you can hear a huge melodic influence as the chorus and really the entire song is pretty catchy. I would have liked it better if this was the opening track.

“Slave to the Parasites” is a slower song that also has a very catchy chorus. This would have also been a good opening track as it is one of my favorites on the album. Just an overall good song.

My second favorite track, and not that far behind “Eraser”, would definitely have to “New World”. No hints of melodic death on this song. It’s easily the heaviest on the entire album. The double bass use in this song is great, the vocals are much heavier than the rest of the album and the breakdown is top notch. The solo is also pretty good.

This is where the album starts to falter. “Dead Sky Dawning” is on the track out of the last four that really stand out. It’s not that the other songs are bad it’s just that they don’t reach out and grab you as well as the others do. At least that’s the way I see it. This is one of those albums though that has something for all metal fans because Hypocrisy go in a lot of different directions with each song. It’s that diversity that really makes me enjoy this album. There’s simply something for everybody and that tracks that don’t stand out for your are still good songs. Overall this is a very solid release.