Hypocrisy - Catch 22 (The Complete Edition) (2LP) - Red Transparent Vinyl

Hypocrisy’s Catch 22 has always been a lightning rod in their catalog, which is exactly why Catch 22 (The Complete Edition) is such a satisfying package. It lets you hear the band argue with itself across time. On one side you get the 2002 version that bent the rules and tilted toward a sleeker, almost industrial sheen. On the other you get the later overhaul, the v2.0.08 revisions that Peter Tägtgren put through The Abyss to restore some bite, weight, and that gloomy Swedish chill fans missed. Same songs, different faces, and the tension between the two is the point.

Tägtgren’s fingerprints are everywhere. He produced and recorded Hypocrisy at The Abyss, his Pärlby studio that has shaped more than a few Scandinavian heavy records, and he has spoken over the years about not being fully satisfied with how Catch 22 first landed. Listening to the Complete Edition you get why he circled back. The original mix is lean and dry, the snare cracks, the guitars slice fast, and the vocals sit up front in a way that pushed Hypocrisy toward a modern, hook-forward strain of death metal. It felt risky at the time. The reworked version, remixed with re-recorded parts, darkens the room. The low end fills in, the growls sound more feral, and the riffs swing heavier, closer to the moody gravity the band made their name on.

Spin “Don’t Judge Me,” the obvious entry point thanks to a real-deal music video and years of setlist love, and the contrast is immediate. In the original, the chorus snaps into focus with a clinical precision that made it an earworm in metal clubs. On the v2 take, the same chorus feels thicker and more sinister, like it was dragged back through the woods and thawed out on the console at The Abyss. That A/B effect threads through the record. Grooves that once felt almost mechanical become more organic in the revision, and ambient guitar layers that were tucked in the background step forward to cast longer shadows.

The bigger story is what Catch 22 tried to do in the first place. Early 2000s extreme metal was shifting, and Hypocrisy took a swing at streamlining their menace without losing the alien melancholy that runs through their best work. Some fans bristled. Others heard a band refusing to calcify. Critics were split too, though many pointed to the songwriting strength and Tägtgren’s ear for vocal phrasing. The Complete Edition makes that conversation more interesting, because you can hear how arrangement choices and production moves can tilt a song’s personality. It is a small masterclass in how much a mix matters.

As a piece of listening, both versions stack strong. The tempos tussle between head-down chug and quick-strike bursts, the choruses hit harder than memory might allow, and the leads still carry that frosty, minor-key ache. Mikael Hedlund’s bass presence feels more physical in the revised takes, which helps the riffs bloom, and the drum sound throughout the v2 tracks sits warmer and deeper in the room. Yet I would not write off the sharp edges of the 2002 cut. There is a prickly energy in that original presentation that captures exactly why the album turned heads in the first place.

If you are the sort who loves format rabbit holes, this is where the hunt gets fun. The Complete Edition is one to keep an eye out for if you collect Hypocrisy albums on vinyl, though any pressing that puts these mixes side by side earns shelf space. I have stumbled across Hypocrisy vinyl more than once while crate digging in a Melbourne record store and it is always a pleasant surprise to see Catch 22 vinyl tucked next to the classics. If you prefer to buy Hypocrisy records online, keep an eye on reputable shops that deal in EU imports and the usual heavy metal distributors, the demand ebbs and flows.

What makes this set essential is not just nostalgia. It documents a band mid-argument with its own legacy, then doing the work to reconcile instinct with expectation. That arc gives Catch 22 a second life, and it flat out enhances the songs. Put it on at volume, flip between versions, and let your ears decide which one wins. Odds are you will keep both.