Catch 22

It's pretty hit-or-miss with Hypocrisy - some of their stuff is absolutely brilliant, some is downright bland. Fortunately, their catalogue tends to be more heavy on the hit side than the miss, but this one is, unfortunately, a pretty bad miss.

I really don't know why they did this - it really sounds like they were trying to appeal to the mallcore crowd (forgive the overused term) without losing touch with their own sound. It's even more confusing when you consider the fact that two albums later they were back in form. I can only assume this was just an experiment, and I'm glad they realized that it didn't really work.

It's not really bad - apparently the band was influenced by Slipknot on this one, but trust me, it's a million times better than Slipknot - no, the trouble with this album is that it never really takes off. The songs are heavy, but it's generally in a pounding, power-chord driven sort of way. There's nothing that will tear your face off, which is what I look for in a Hypocrisy album. The songs are catchy, as well, but hell, so is Green Day. The riffs don't really go anywhere, and when there's melody it comes from the vocals which, whatever else has happened to Hypocrisy's sound, remain pretty good. I just wish Peter could think of something better to shriek than "don't judge me."

Bottom line: it's not unlistenable, but it's not very good either. Hypocrisy is capable of so much better - just get Abducted, Into The Abyss, or even their newest, Virus to see what I mean. I'd only recommend this album to someone who wants to complete their Hypocrisy collection - for everyone else, just download "Turn the Page" and get one of the aforementioned albums.