|
Past Issues:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27
BACK
HYPOCRISY
Metal Wheels Keep on Turning
By Adrian ‘The Energizer’ Bromley
Thank God I caught someone other than Peter Tägtgren on the
phone to talk about the new Hypocrisy album, Catch 22.
"Why do you say that?" laughs drummer Lars Szöke
down the line from his home in Sweden. "Do you not want to
talk to us?" The laughter continues.
I explain to Szöke that I have talked to Peter (vocalist/guitarist)
more than six times in the last few years about Hypocrisy, his industrial/electronic
outfit Pain and his work as a producer. I know this man inside and
out. I know his love for what he does. I know his feelings on the
importance of Hypocrisy. I just wanted something fresh, a new sense
of what makes Hypocrisy tick.
"Boy, you are lucky you got me," quips the drummer. "Mikael
[Hedlund; bass] and I are in the band, but Peter is the brains.
I promise I’ll do my best to keep this interesting."
We begin by discussing the camaraderie between the trio. Szöke
says, "I have always seen Hypocrisy as a hobby, something fun
to do when I get together with the other guys. I like to sit home
and fool around on guitar and then get together with Peter and Mikael
and just record albums. This has always been a lot of fun for us.
We don’t really practise a lot together or hang out that much.
I mean, Peter can’t as he is always busy, and I think that
is why we have been able to do this together for so long.
"I think the great thing about being in Hypocrisy is the freedom
to just take it easy and have fun, to create an album when we want
to," he says. "We want to try and make an album every
year, and that comes pretty easy because we always have riffs and
ideas lying around our houses. We just come together, drink beers
and record an album."
Is it always the same recording experience?
"I’d say for the most part it was, but for the new album
Catch 22 we worked a little harder on the riffs and the sound. We
were in the studio for two months on this album and that is a long
time for us with any recording. I guess we just wanted to get things
right and a specific feel. The last album, Into the Abyss [2000],
was a lot more spontaneous and a lot of the ideas came together
in the studio. With Catch 22, we had to plan out what riffs we wanted
and where. We wanted a real special sound with the guitars, and
that took a while to find.
"Peter is always in charge in the studio, as many would expect,
but it is great for us to throw around ideas at one another. All
of us decide the final results of each song; it is just that he
brings a good chunk of ideas to us to sort through. The man is always
on the go and coming up with some great riffs and sounds. Without
him we’d be an average metal band for sure."
The topic turns to the new album Catch 22 and the drummer’s
thoughts on the new platter. He begins, "Each Hypocrisy record
is a big deal for me. I love to hear what we create and it just
sounds so cool to play back a record and be excited. With this album,
I especially like the guitar riffs. As I said before, we worked
hard on the riffs and they just sound so good this time around.
I also think that the production is the best that we have had in
two or three albums. It is hard work to get the right sounding record,
but it feels so good when you know the music sounds the way it was
originally thought up."
Does the drummer ever get sick of playing music and recording? Any
downtime activities that keep him busy? Family? Painting?
"I play video games," blurts out Szöke. "I love
playing video games. I do it all the time. Lots of Playstation activity
in my house. I also spend time with my wife and kids, as well as
hang out and drink beers and play guitar. I have my time away from
the band all under control," he laughs.
"I know it seems like I just lie around my house and play video
games, but I think we all have worked hard for the band over the
years," he continues. "This means a lot to me to be able
to create music, tour and also have time to get away from it all
and feel comfortable about what I have done. I always look forward
to rehearsing before a tour or getting together to drink. When it
stops being fun, this band will break up and we’ll all go our
opposite ways. I can’t see that happening any time soon though."
A lot of people will say that Hypocrisy epitomizes a death metal
band that has evolved over the years. Just look at the band’s
first album (1992’s Penetralia) on to Abducted (1996) and up
to Catch 22. Changes have indeed occurred. Has the evolution of
the band been proper or does he think some changes have come on
too fast?
"I think things just happened for us. We just changed as things
have gone along and not really tried to stay in the same mold, but
made sure to keep the Hypocrisy sound existent with whatever we
did. I think a lot of the evolution of the band has to do with Peter’s
singing changing and getting better, as well as us constantly working
on the ‘sound’ of Hypocrisy.
"As always, and with each album, we will continue to evolve,
and while some of our fans out there may not like where we are headed,
we are continuously being blown away by what we do with this band.
This is still fun, and that is all that matters to me and the rest
of the band."
|
