Hypocrisy Concert Review NileTheater Mesa AZ 05-17-22

Hypocrisy Concert Review NileTheater Mesa AZ 05-17-22 By Roc Boyum

Swedish death metal masters Hypocrisy hit the Nile Theater on May 17, 2022 with their headline tour in support of their latest 2021 LP, “Worship”. The opening three support bands were “Hideous Divinity”, “The Agonist” and “Carach Angren” who all put on a stellar show which made for an incredible night of diverse metal!

Hideous Divinity are a technical death metal band from Italy and Norway who have been around for some fourteen years and are a band who are continuing to make their mark on the death metal scene. They opened the show and gave the audience a thirty-minute six song set that was intense, brutal and pure death metal. The guitars were swift, the rhythm section was insanely tight and the death growl vocals were deep, heavy and delivered with unequivocal conviction,. The band’s performance set the bar high for the bands that followed and left a lasting impression that will not be forgotten.

Hideous Divinity

Canadian melodic death metal band The Agonist are led by powerhouse singer Vicky Psarakis who replaced Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy) in 2014 and are definitely no strangers to the metal scene. The band gave the audience one hell of a kick ass show with a brilliant thirty-minute set of songs from two LP’s; their latest, “Days Before The World Wept” and their “Orphans” LP. Psarakris was vocally killing it this evening with the band as brutal and tight as ever. At one point in the show, Psarakris paused to address the audience by thanking everyone for coming out and supporting live music and supporting this night of metal and how good it is to finally be back out playing live again. Psarakris also imparted a story of how she usually gets straight to sleep after a show in order to keep her voice in shape and how last night was anything but rest. She said that upon arriving in AZ the night before, that our AZ weather and nights are so beautiful, she couldn’t resist a night out by hitting a local bar with friends and getting into a crazy night of fun and Karaoke until 2am; of which she has no regrets! The band had the audience flying their horns throughout their set and were a great band to finally see live again. As an opening band on a night with three opening bands and Hypocrisy as the headliner, their set was a bit shorter than I would have liked from these guys. Considering that they’re heading over to Europe this fall with Hypocrisy, it may be some time before they make their return to the states; I am definitely anxious for their return!

The Agonist, with Vicky Psarakis on Vocals

The final band before the headliner Hypocrisy was Carach Angren, who are a symphonic black metal band from the Netherlands and whose name is derived from J.R.R. Toklien’s “Lord Of The Rings” and means “Iron Jaws”. I unfortunately had never heard from this band previously to this show but make no mistake; their fans showed up in full force to celebrate the return of this killer band. Musically, they are a bit different from most of their contemporaries in this genre; with the use of stage makeup, their mix of symphonic musical elements and of course, the use of black metal vocals. The band also will often switch languages within a given song that incorporates the use of French, Dutch and German in the choruses with English as the main language for the verses. Carach Angren are an extremely entertaining band to watch, and I believe, it’s the use of keyboards for the symphonic elements that sets them apart from other groups, and interestingly enough, they also cover the bass guitar duties with the keys which is quite interesting indeed. I do prefer the use of keys for the bass parts rather than a band that just employs the use of pre-recorded tracks to cover an essential instrument like the bass guitar. Their nine song set blew me away and absolutely blew the roof off the building with their 110% plus performance. They are a definite must see band when they come back around and I am now a fan of Carach Angren!

Check out the Carach Angren Nile Theater Photo Gallery Here!

Carach Angren_L-R_Keys, Clemens Wijers_Vocals, Dennis Droomers_Drums, Michiel van der Plicth_Guitar, Bastiaan Boh

It was now time for the headliner, Hypocrisy whose dark stage throughout their show matched the dark intensity of the band’s music. Unfortunately, there was no photo pit for the photographers, and with an insanely packed room, low light and a stage that was most often shrouded in smoke, trying to capture the band from a distance in the dark was most challenging to say the least. The band played a seriously intense seventeen song set, with the last four songs as their encore. The band currently has thirteen LPs out, and, if you are a fan of any one particular LP, you were covered as they played at least one song from every one of their thirteen LP’s; most impressive indeed. They pulled out three songs from their latest 2021 release “Worship” with “Chemical Whore”, “Children of the Gray” and “Worship” which sounded as good if not better live than they do on record. Hypocrisy are a straight up, no bullshit band that gives their fans exactly what they are; an intense death metal band. They deliver live exactly what you hear on their LPs, and if the venue’s sound system can handle their musical intensity; you’re gonna get a insanely killer show. Put Hypocrisy on your list bands that you must see live; you’ll be gald you did!

Sometimes standing through three opening bands can wear you down a bit, especially if some of the bands are not your thing or generally suck! This is a tour that has no dead weight and a great package of bands, with every band brutally kicking some serious ass with their own brand of bad ass metal! If you haven’t experienced a death metal show, this is one not to miss as you will get a great section of styles within this genre which is worth every penney of the ticket price.

Check Out the Hypocrisy Photo Gallery Here!

Get into Hypocrisy here!

The Hypocrisy Nile Theater Set List Was:

Worship

Fire In The Sky

Mind Cprruption

Inferior Devoties

Chemical Whore

Until the End

Don’t Judge Me

End of Disclousure

Weed Out the Weak

Childern of the Gray

War-Path

The Final Chapter Encore:

Fractured Millennium

Impotent God

Adjusting the Sun

The Gathering