April 29, 2022
As one of several venues in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenpoint, the appropriately named Warsaw is special in how it honors its roots. Located in an area of New York City also known as "Little Poland", Warsaw is proud to serve Polish beer and replaces standard bar food with kielbasa and perogies.
It is here where, in the final days of April, unique food and drink was paired with several of heavy metal's most unique bands as Hypocrisy kicked off the Worship Tour 2022 at Warsaw. The legendary Swedish unit brought a stacked bill for the trek, which included Carach Angren, The Agonist, and Hideous Divinity.
Editor's note: The Metal Mayan regrets to have missed Hideous Divinity due to traffic getting to the venue. We wish you safe travels and hope to see you back in the U.S. again soon.
Noting this tour as their first time performing in Brooklyn as opposed to Manhattan, one might find this statement from The Agonist difficult to believe given the warm reception from the crowd. Coming out fists swinging with "In Vertigo" from 2019's Orphans, the Canadian quintet had heads banging with stellar playthroughs of "Immaculate Deception" and "Remnants In Time".
With all the energy The Agonist brings to the stage, here's hoping for a speedy return back to the Big Apple and Little Poland. Considering that vocalist Vicky Psarakis was rarely without a smile during the performance, clearly the band feels the same way.
Despite technical difficulties and the absence of keyboardist, Ardek, due to visa issues, the show would go on for Carach Angren. Hailing from the Netherlands, the haunting was real as poetry, horror, and symphonic black metal came together in performances of "The Sighting Is a Portent of Doom", "The Carriage Wheel Murder", and "Bloodstains On the Captain's Log".
Even with the start-of-tour mishaps, vocalist Seregor commanded the crowd with ease as he glided across the stage like a screaming shadow. With several years since their last U.S. tour, it was excellent to see Carach Angren stateside and have the opportunity to play material from 2020's Franckensteina Strataemontanus, one of countless metal records that never got a proper release tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With over 30 years of leveling stages around the world, Swedish melodic death metal titans Hypocrisy needed no introduction. Yet another album overdue for a promo tour, fans had plenty of time to learn every song off 2021's Worship in preparation for the evening's show. Joining performances of new songs such as "Worship" and "Children Of The Gray" were classic cuts, including "Mind Corruption", "Warpath", and an encore set ended with "Roswell 47".
Between the fist pumping, circle pits, and head banging, credit must be given to Warsaw for being able to contain the intensity. With the European leg of the Worship 2022 Tour set for this fall, which sees the return of The Agonist, along with Septicflesh and Horizon Ignited, the roars of approval from the crowd throughout the night was surely a sign that New York will be waiting with much excitement for the next time Hypocrisy comes to town.
Press and photo pass courtesy of Napalm Records
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