Very few acts could have followed Abbath's typically ferocious set but Hypocrisy managed to ramp up the intensity with a demented onslaught of extremity and jaw-dropping technical ability. Borrowing in equal measures from the ambitions of prog metal, the melodic flair of traditional heavy metal, the epic-ness of thrash and the brutality of death metal, the Swedish veterans completely annihilated La Machine with their relentless performance and crowd-pleasing setlist.
Death metal may be a primarily underground phenomena, but make no mistake: this is bombastic metal, made for big venues and big crowds. On a massive high-tech stage, Peter Tägtgren and his cohorts came down like a hammer on an anvil to the delight of the metal maniacs in the room who sang (well, growled) along with every anthemic chorus and every riff. With no new album to promote (speaking of which, what's taking so long?), we were treated to classic tunes from beloved records like Abducted, The Final Chapter and going as far back as their sophomore LP Osculum Obscenum. It's hard to believe that Hypocrisy has been releasing music for nearly thirty-five years, until you look around the room and see that most of the crowd has white hair (whatever's left of it anyway...) and perhaps a few wrinkles around the eyes... But for 90 minutes, none of that mattered and the people in attendance headbanged away like it was 1996. Those neck muscles are going to be sore tomorrow... assuming there is a tomorrow. After such an apocalyptic performance, that's not necessarily a given.
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