HYPOCRISY's PETER TÄGTGREN Explains Long Gaps Between Studio Albums: 'You Become More Picky Of What You Write'

In a new interview with Kacper Dworniczak of Strefa Music Art, HYPOCRISY frontman Peter Tägtgren addressed the reason for the long gap between the band's last two albums, with 2021's "Worship" arriving eight years after 2013's "End Of Disclosure". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "You become a little bit more selective and you become more picky of what you write. Nothing is ever good enough. So you write more and more and more until... And it takes forever sometimes to... You don't wanna repeat yourself, and you don't wanna sound like shit if you're doing something, because it's so far in between albums. So people expect more. They maybe think we're sitting for five, six years writing songs, but it's mainly just moments when you write songs. So you have to find, in this eight years, in between the albums, you have to find the right time to be inspired to write for it because, face it, we've done it for 35 years."

He continued: "We don't have to prove anything or we have no desire to change and start sounding like DEPECHE MODE or IRON MAIDEN or whatever. We wanna take care of how HYPOCRISY sounds 'cause it took us a while to get where we are with our own sound. Not too many bands have their own sound, I guess. So you become more selective, and it's, like, 'Okay, what's the point of making more music? What's the point of this? What's the point of that?' But eventually it comes around and you feel it starts buzzing in your body. Then you know it's time. So it's impossible to say when and how. In the past I was just writing riff after riff after riff. It's, 'Oh, okay. Put it next to the next to the next. Okay, I have a song.' So you weren't that picky then. Every riff you wrote became something on the album. Nowadays you write 20 riffs and none of them will make it to the album, so it's a little bit different. I mean, I can just shit out album after album, but it's just gonna sound like you repeat yourself. So it has to be little bit finesse. And then sometimes it takes you years to be motivated to do another album… It's not one thing. If nobody pushes anything, then nothing happens."

HYPOCRISY will continue its "Mass Hallucination" North American tour this August with newly added headline dates surrounding their upcoming run as special guest to DIMMU BORGIR.

Presented by Heart of Music Agency, the tour will bring HYPOCRISY across Canada and the United States, with select headline performances added in key markets including New York, Omaha, Salt Lake City, and San Diego.

Known for their crushing live presence and uncompromising extreme metal legacy, HYPOCRISY return to North America for a powerful summer run that will give fans both full headline sets and major support appearances alongside DIMMU BORGIR.

HYPOCRISY's "Mass Hallucination" 2026 North American tour dates:

Aug. 10 - Toronto, ON - History *
Aug. 11 - Montreal, QC - MTELUS *
Aug. 12 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre
Aug. 13 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Theatre *
Aug. 14 - Chicago, IL - The Vic *
Aug. 15 - Minneapolis, MN - The Fillmore *
Aug. 16 - Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
Aug. 18 - Denver, CO - Mission Ballroom *
Aug. 19 - Salt Lake City, UT - Metro Music Hall
Aug. 21 - San Francisco, CA - The Warfield *
Aug. 22 - San Diego, CA - Voodoo Room at House of Blues
Aug. 23 - Los Angeles, CA - The Novo *

* Special guest to DIMMU BORGIR

All recording and mixing for "Worship" took place at Tägtgren's Abyss Studio AB in Sweden while mastering was completed by Svante Forsbäck at Chartmakers Audio Mastering. Designed by artist Blake Armstrong (KATAKLYSM, IN FLAMES, CARNIFEX),"Worship"'s artwork speaks to the history of the relationship between humanity and extraterrestrials.

HYPOCRISY has a 30-year history with 12 albums, hundreds of gigs all over the world, and thousands of fans. This influential Swedish death metal band started from the will of one person, and this person's name was (and is) Peter Tägtgren (HYPOCRISY, THE ABYSS, PAIN, ex-LINDEMANN). Having made the first demos all by himself, after getting an offer from Nuclear Blast, he invited musicians to form an actual band.

Since then, HYPOCRISY gained success with its records and rocking live performances, and evolved musically and conceptually. Heavy and rich sound with catchy melodic riffs, crushing drum fills, obscure lyrics and versatile vocal parts became a signature style of the band. Its discography from debut "Penetralia" to the recent "Worship", through such legendary albums as "The Fourth Dimension", "Abducted" and "Virus", is indeed a thrilling metal journey. A journey that continues.

Today, apart from Peter, the band consists of Mikael Hedlund (bass),who joined HYPOCRISY back in 1991. Guitarist Thomas Elofsson is a session member since 2013. In 2022, the band was joined by a session drummer Henrik Axelsson.

Photo courtesy of Reigning Phoenix Music