Customer Reviews

Catch 22 V2.0.08

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I stayed away from buying this release for a long time, having heard all the usual "sell-out", "commercial" and "nu-metal" comments regarding this album. I bought it cheap recently from a store that was closing down in my area. And I can tell you as a long-time fan of the band - this is still the same Hypocrisy we all know and love. It's more in the vein of "Abducted" than "Into The Abyss". Maybe a little slower but heavy as hell. I had the pleasure of watching the band tear it up live on their U.S. tour last year and the production on this album captures their intensity perfectly.
In short - don't believe the (un)hype. Buy it, borrow it or miss out. You won't be disappointed.

I read a lots of reviews saying that Hypocrisy sold out with this album, going into nu-metal stuff. I have to say that those people don't know anything about Hypocrisy or nu-metal. None of the nu-metal bands sounds like Hypocrisy does, and I bet Limp Bizkit or Linkin' Park wouldn't write a song as furious, heavy and fast as "Don't judge me" (track 1). Those people are mixing up what means to be nu-metal, and what means to sound modern, that is the keyword in this matter. Peter Tagtgren uses the same recipe with a great result, creating a really verastile album, and sticking to his roots. Nu-metal stuff? Just a couple of arrangements and "Turn the page", that I wouldn't consider nu-metal, and it is catchy and sounds really modern. So, you can't say this album is nu-metal considering one questionable song.
But with songs like "A public puppet", "Turn the page" and "Hatred", Peter takes Hypocrisy one step further, creating new rhythms that fit perfectly in the sound and songwriting of the band, cause he never refused to please himself and continues growing up. The album has a great sound, but the guitars sound better than the previous releases, remindind me "Abducted" or "The Final Chapter". There's the usual Hypo stuff: slow songs, mid tempo and fast songs. There are only 2 fast songs (10 total) in the album. Maybe, it's me, but I prefer more fast songs (the album finishes with two slow songs, sometimes the album needs more energy). Needs 1 or 2 more fast songs to make of this album the prefect combination between brutality and creativity, two things that weren`t combined in the last two albums. You won't find the BEST songs, but they are simple, really "listeneable", with lots of changes of rhythms, well structured, and more important: catchy and not boring. The songs are more in the vein of "Abducted" or "The Final Chapter", than "Hypocrisy" or "Into the abyss". I hope Peter to continue in the right path writing excellent music...(after two years with no new stuff from the studio, 10 songs is not enough...I'm a metal vicious!)
DON'T MISS CATCH 22!!...

This album has already become one of my favorites. Many consider it nu-metal influenced but it isn't IMO. I hate all this "nu metal" stuff, and I honestly like this CD. Sure, it's different than all the other Hypocrisy albums, but that's what makes them an exciting band. The songs are well written, and you can tell that they spent a lot of time on this one. Hypocrisy does what they want, and if they did what some of the "hardcore" fans always demand, then they wouldn't be free to do as they please.

As with all Hypocrisy releases, the production is excellent. These are some really catchy songs too, with good lyrics as well. All you really need to know is that if you consider this record a sell out, then that means you are out of touch with reality.

At this point in their career, the Swedish death metal band Hypocrisy was faced with a tough decision on how to make this record. Do they continue with their standard brutal, heavy sound or do they try something different? In this case, Hypocrisy decided to go with the second route and drastically soften their music. Don't get me wrong, their music is still heavier than any mainsteam band, but it's softer than the band's previous albums.

This decision has it's pros and cons. On the negative side, "Catch 22" angered most of Hypocrisy's loyal fanbase (and when you're an underground band like this, your loyal fanbase is pretty much the only thing you have). On the bright side, this new sound was sure to get the band some mainstream attention, which would lead to newer fans, right? Wrong. It seems like their plan backfired because I've never heard Hypocrisy's music played on any type of media outlet.

While most of the Hypocrisy loyalists are quick to give this album a bad rating, it really isn't that bad. Each song was great in it's own way, with the only skipper being "Seeds of the Chosen One" (which was too generic and boring for my tastes). If you're someone that enjoys Scandinavian or Death metal, you'll probably enjoy this album.

I can't believe anyone would seriously say there is anything Nu-Metal about this album. Hypocrisy in no way sold out, and Peter did not "lose interest" like one guy suggested. Yes, this album is different than any other Hypocrisy album - it's a whole lot more Metal. Not nu-metal, PURE metal. This album has some of the sickest riffs I have heard on a metal album in a long time. This is easily their best effort since way back when they released "Abducted". This is still death metal, but the emphasis is much more on the metal than it ever was before with Hyprocrisy. It's still just as heavy as their previous material just shows a more diverse side of Hypocrisy. Personally I hope these guys continue down this path because I love this album.

Like some others have already mentioned here, there's been a very critical (some say overcritical) shadow cast over Hypocrisy's latest release. Now I don't profess to be the be-all end-all of all things regarding this famous death metal band, but I've heard (and own) 4 of their records over the course of their career. And I can't find one thing wrong with this disc.

It's superb, from start to finish, and Tagtgren & co. keep finding different and unique ways to shred your speakers. Sure their are cleaner vocal passages (notably the choruses of 'Destroyer', 'On the Edge of Madness', and 'Another Dead End'), there's melody incorporated blatantly right in front of your face, on nearly every song. And yes, gasp, the rumours are true: there's a faint trace of some nu-metalism present here, most noticeable on 'Turn the Page' or 'A Public Puppet.' But I dare Limp Bizkit or any other faux metal band out there to attempt the time changes and sheer ferocity of this. I don't think we'll be seeing that any time soon. Make no mistake about it, this is still Hypocrisy. Finally, and perhaps because of the new attention payed to song structure and melody, I would boldly proclaim this my favorite Hypocrisy album. It's the first one where I just kept hitting repeat over and again to hear one great song after another. Standout tracks: 'Destroyed,' 'On the Edge of Madness,' 'Another Dead End,' and my new favorite song of 2002 - 'Seeds of the Chosen One.'

As I alluded to in the title of this review, don't believe the negative hype. This release is well worth your time and money; you won't regret it.

This is the first time I listen to Hypocrisy, and I got to tell you that I like this album a lot. Great riffs, Great vocals... I can't wait to listen to their older stuff. I am a great Death and Trash Metal Fan (Kreator rules!!) and I love Hypocrisy.
They really got me going crazy with songs like "Public Puppet" and "Destroyed".
Maybe it's not pure death metal, but is Good Heavy metal.
Buy it, you won't regret it.

There's a reason why Catch 22 is ranked nearly twice as high in the sales ranks as Hypocrisy's 2004 release "Arrival". But if you listen to the "fans", you'd think this was by far their worst album. Perhaps that's why the title "Catch 22" is so fitting, perhaps Hypocrisy was self-conscious enough to realize they were straying from the norm with this release (in a good way!) and they knew the fans would lash out because of it. A real shame, because this is a masterpiece and truly innovative -- regardles of what the fans might have to say. Hopefully Hypocrisy will come to terms with the fact that they cannot please everyone and start making the music they want to make, I hope their next release tests the boundaries like this album did -- their fanbase will comea round.

Hypocrisy caught a lot of heat when they originally released their 2002 album Catch 22. Longtime fans were quick to charge the band with abandoning their death metal sound and "selling out" or "going nu-metal", despite the fact that Catch 22 was an unbelievably heavy album that couldn't possibly be considered anything BUT a death metal album. Much of that had to do with Peter Tagtgren's vocal delivery, which I admit did lean in a nu-metal direction.

Apparently the album's reception has been bothering Tagtgren for a while, so he went back in the studio, rerecorded the vocal tracks, and remastered the album. The result is this 2008 reissue called Catch 22 V2.0.08. I'm a fan of the original album, and as a rule am opposed to bands going back and tinkering with their past work, but I have to admit the difference in the two versions is startling. Tagtgren's new vocals are now in the same style as on The Arrival or Virus, which goes a long way towards making this album sound like a "true" Hypocrisy release. The remastered audio is also an impressive update. The album still retained all of the ferocity and brutality of the original; it just sounds more like a melodic death metal album than in did previously.

In addition to the rerecorded vocals and remastered sound, the Catch 22 reissue also features some bonus content. You get a bonus studio track called "Nowhere to Run," which was originally only available on the Japanese import of Catch 22 and a trio of live videos. I'm still not convinced that the original album needed fixing in the first place, but Hypocrisy did an excellent job with this reissue.

Hopefully Catch 22 V2.0.08 will give some of the album's detractors another perspective on this album. If nothing else, it should put those nu-metal accusations to rest once and for all.

Back in 2002, Hypocrisy released Catch 22, an underrated album that was criticized for supposedly sounding too modern. Frontman Peter Tägtgren even claimed that bands like Slipknot influenced the music on the album. Now, 6 years later, we have version 2 with re-recorded vocals and remastered sound. I can honestly say that I've not heard the original. Maybe it was how his vocals sounded or how his 7-string guitar was tuned that upset some fans, I don't know, and I don't care. This is Hypocrisy, and like it or not, this album shows potential. If you don't believe me, listen to the new version. It sounds like a Hypocrisy record to me, and I have 8 of their albums including this one, so I know how they sound. If you don't have the album, it's the perfect time to get it.