Finally, HYPOCRISY made their way to Poland to promote their new release, “End of Disclosure.” Admittedly, being a metal fan in this country is not easy business. We don’t exactly suffer from an overwhelming number of big-name tours. If such bands somehow pop up in Poland, it should be considered a celebration, and, as we all know, the term “celebration” usually includes a fun factor in its meaning. Live shows are meant to entertain, after all. This latest concert to make it to Poland was on April 10th, 2013, and it wasn’t the one to be called purely fun, especially when we keep in mind what recently happened to local band, HATE. Check out the gull gallery here.
I won’t lie – even though I’ve never heard of HATE before, the tragic news of Slawek “Mortifer” Archangielskij’s sudden death had a certain impact on me. It’s nothing less than a pity that their bassist passed away at such a young age. All these thoughts didn’t brighten my mood on that particular day, and I traveled to Kraków feeling rather gloomy.
After arriving at my destination and meeting up with a friend, we started heading to Kwadrat club. The venue gradually started to fill up with fans, but in general it wasn’t exactly packed to capacity, probably due to the unfortunate date chosen for the concert (Wednesday). I’ve never been to Kwadrat before, but I can just say that the name wasn’t chosen by accident – “kwadrat” means “square” in Polish. It isn’t the most spacious venue, but it’s also not a living room -sized cubicle, even if I do like those the most.
The concert itself was announced as a MORTIFER tribute by the promoters, since on April 10th he’d have celebrated his birthday on stage, and it lived up to the promise – when the support band ESSENCE appeared on stage, all dressed in HATE T-shirts, no other words were needed. I wouldn’t call their tribute silent at all (the thrash metal they played isn’t meant for R&R, for Cthulhu’s sake!) and even though it was the first time I had seen them, their set was like a punch in the face.
ESSENCE’s set was followed by a small break, giving us the opportunity to replenish fluids and take a small breath before HYPOCRISY. At this point, it had gotten more crowded than before, with everyone yearning to see the almighty Peter Tägtgren (vocals & guitar) with his band. They emerged to the crowd’s loud delight and without much further ado, they started with the very powerful number “End of Disclosure.” Even though HYPOCRISY isn’t one of the most bustling bands out there, the intensity of the music soon made everyone in the first row headbang like crazy.
With respect to the MORTIFER tribute, a casual viewer with an eagle eye might have spotted a single candle lit in front of Reidar “Horgh” Horghagen’s drum kit. It was a small detail, but it garnered HYPOCRISY even more respect in my eyes.
The crowd was treated not only to songs from the new release, “End of Disclosure,” but also with some pearls from older albums, such as “Left to Rot,” “Necronomicon,” and “Fractured Millennium.” However, the real cherry on the top of the cake was the dual performance of “Fire in the Sky,” where members of HATE joined HYPOCRISY on stage. This one made the crowd go completely insane at the first part of the song and later, during the transition, everybody on the stage and in the audience raised their horns. This was the kind of a magical moment that I hope to never wipe from my memory. After the song, HATE’s vocalist, ATF Sinner, thanked everyone for supporting the band and ensured that HATE will be back soon.
After leaving the venue I tried to rearrange my thoughts. To a certain extent I was expecting a very stiff and mournful memorial, but it wasn’t as brazen as I thought it would be, thanks to the Essence and Hypocrisy guys. I don’t regret being there, even though I hadn’t slept for nearly 24 hours and close to half of those I’d spent on the go.
Setlist:
1. End of Disclosure
2. Tales of Thy Spineless
3. Fractured Millennium
4. Left to Rot
5. The Eye
6. The Abyss
7. Fire in the Sky
8. Necronomicon
9. Buried
10. Fearless
11. United We Fall
12. 44 Double Zero
13. Elastic-Inverted Visions
14. Warpath Roswell 47 (encore)
15. Adjusting the Sun (encore)
16. Eraser (encore)
Photos by Maria Sawicka
Musicalypse, 2013
OV: 5246
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