HypocrisySweden's Hypocrisy continue their nearly two-decade career with the next brutal installment, 'A Taste of Extreme Divinity,' out on Nuclear Blast. Slinging the paint for this release is fellow countryman Kristian Wåhling, who also goes under the name of Necrolord. The art is wonderfully and undeniably death metal, but to the discriminating eye, it is a slight departure from Hypocrisy's previous album art, though those familiar with Wåhling's style can pick up the visual clues easily.

Wåhling's art career boasts a long history of great death metal bands, including At the Gates, Dismember, Bathory and King Diamond. His style includes monochromatic backgrounds of a very detailed, intricate geographical scene, punctuated by another color to ensure focus on the proper object. In the case of 'A Taste of Extreme Divinity', the eye is drawn to the sacrificial victim lying prostrate on the altar. The hooded figure with the knife blends in the with the vertical stone arches and windows, both in color and in geometry, while the 'horizontalness' of the victim emphasizes his position. One almost passes over the mass of bloody bodies on the sanctuary floor.

Hypocrisy is currently on tour in the U.S., with Ensiferum and Ex Deo.

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