Review of Hypocrisy - Live & Clips (DVD)

Having heard the disc that lies behind this DVD several times over the past few years, I'd always wondered what it would be like to see the performance. Luckily for me and all Hypocrisy fans we now have the opportunity to see one of the heaviest shows caught on tape. This DVD starts out with an intro showing a substantial amount of footage showing the band drinking beer, having a laugh or two and even shows a little studio footage. Then out of nowhere the ultimate powerful entity that was Hypocrisy back in 1998 begins to destroy, Wacken. With all four band members head banging in unison, they come out and play Roswell 47 arguably one of the heaviest Hypocrisy tunes in existence. The band continues to torture the listeners with an endless barrage of Hypocrisy songs ranging from the early, early days right up to present time (1998). Each song is performed with the utmost professionalism and the stage presence portrayed by this Swedish quartet is commanding. Some bands need to use pyrotechnics and stage props along with the corpse paint to boot. I assure you Peter and Hypocrisy are just as evil coming out without the over-abused, warped imagery displayed by a lot of today's metal bands. If you've heard the Destroy's Wacken CD, I can assure you the sound on the DVD is just as refined and just as powerful. Each instrument comes across clearly and the vocals come across even more so. I do have to say I am curious as to whether or not any overdubs were done as well as any touch ups. If this is not the case, then these guys played a flawless set. With cameras taking shots from all kinds of different angles the viewer gets the chance to see all that is going on during the performance. The bonus footage contains videos of several different tracks including the aforementioned Roswell 47 and The Final Chapter. Anyone who is with the times and owns a DVD player will be happy with the purchase of this one. It is definitely money well spent. Nice buy Wrex…

I have to admit I have now found my new standard in which to judge all live DVD's from hereafter. I have owned Hypocrisy's Destroys Wacken CD pretty much from its inception back in 99. Where I have marveled at it's production and the basic "crush your soul" aspect, it was not until I witnessed this DVD first hand that it all came together on what an extraordinary performance Hypocrisy did deliver that historic evening. Hypocrisy's Live & Clips DVD begins with their emotional live performance recorded at Wacken Open Air on August 8, 1998. With post-production credits going single handily to Lars Johannson in Studio Hangballe. His work with the sound of this one should be not just be mine alone but a strict industry standard for all live recordings, bottom line. I am sure the extraordinary job he did behind the board during the show only made his time that much easier while delivering the final in studio mix. As Rosewell-47 begins the intensity of Hypocrisy's stage presence shines through systematically. With Peter Tagtgren, Mikael Hedlund, and Mattias Kamijo heads bashing in time to the crush-laden hypnotic intro. At this point all the hair on my body stood on end as the waves of "Goodgod" took a firm grip. Watching these giants proceed with such a seasoned strength is the point-blank obvious reason why we love metal. With break bone tunes like A Coming Race, Buried, The Fourth Dimension, and The Final Chapter. (I could list them all) I can honestly say there is absolutely zero lull from beginning to end of this bad ass motherfoker. Lars Szoke's drums boom so lowly your insides are jarred before you even know why it happened. This DVD does include a video collection as well. Showcasing Hypocrisy videos from 93-98. Whereas it is interesting watching Hypocrisy progress through the years, the production on some definatly sound dated. After watching the live show these basically just come across as filler. Bottom Line: This is by far one of the finest DVD's I have gotten my hands on to date. If your are a Hypocrisy fan you should run not walk to your local metal shop and buy this immediately. If you are just a fan of metal in general this one needs to grace the collection with all its glory of crush in yours as well.

Release Details

Hypocrisy

Live & Clips (DVD)

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