LoathsomePete

Been awhile since I've done one of these, so here we go again:


Chances are if you're even remotely connected to the Swedish Death Metal scene in the last twenty years you've probably heard of this man. Peter Tagtgren is connected to almost as many projects as other virtuosos like Mike Patton or Devin Townsend. He plays guitar and does vocal work for his main band Hypocrisy. He has an industrial metal side project called Pain, which has gained immense popularity in the last five years. He did vocals and guitar for grindcore group Lock Up before they went their separate ways a few years ago. He also provided vocals for the "All-Star" Swedish Death Metal band Bloodbath for their 2004 album Nightmares Made Flesh. Most importantly however, he is the founder and owner of The Abyss studios in Ludvika, Sweden which has recorded bands like Enslaved, Children of Bodom, Dark Funeral, Dimmu Borgir, Immortal, Therion, and Borknagar.

At first he wasn't the front-man and main lyricist of Hypocrisy, that job was held by Magnus Broberg (better known as Emperor Magus Caligula). At first they were hailed as a fairly mediocre death metal band, focusing on the usual suspects found in Death Metal lyrics; i.e. Satan, violence, addiction, and torture. It wasn't until the band oust Broberg and installed Tagtgren in his place that the band started to achieve success. With a rapid departure in lyrical content, Hypocrisy started to shift to a more melodic style of playing, but keeping the guttural vocals that are characteristic of the genre. Their lyric content changed to focus more on the paranormal and extraterrestrial, something Tagtgren found fascinating. This departure from the norms of Death Metal helped Hypocrisy stand out amongst the legions of Death Metal bands of the early '90's trying to do the same thing (believe me there's LOTS).

Anyhow to make a long story short, as Hypocrisy's popularity began to grow, Tagtgren decided to expand outwards and started his own industrial metal band Pain in 1997 that has continued to this day. In 1999 Tagtgren contributed vocals to the U.K. grindcore band Lock Up, all while still recording and touring with Hypocrisy. In 2004 he replaced Mikael Åkerfeldt for vocals on the new Bloodbath album, that same year he released Hypocrisy's 9th album The Arrival. Since 2004 he has put most of his energy into Pain and Hypocrisy, but also with running The Abyss Studio and mixing and producing a large number of metal bands.

The man is truly a monster when it comes to work ethic, never a slow moment for Mr. Tagtgren.

Here's the list of songs I felt best expressed the immense awesomeness that is Peter Tagtgren.

As always band names are Bolded
Album titles are Italicized
And song titles are "quoted"

01. "Black Forest" - Hypocrisy - The Fourth Dimension
02. "Roswell 47" - Hypocrisy - Abducted
03. "Through The Window of Time" - Hypocrisy - The Final Chapter
04. "Paranormal Mysteria" - Hypocrisy - Hypocrisy
05. "Eraser" - Hypocrisy - The Arrival
06. "Fearless" - Hypocrisy - Virus
07. "Hang Him High" - Hypocrisy - A Taste of Extreme Divinity
08. "Destroyed" - Hypocrisy - Catch 22
09. "Shut Your Mouth" - Pain - Nothing Remains The Same
10. "Just Hate Me" - Pain - Nothing Remains The Same
11. "Nailed To The Ground" - Pain - Psalms of Extinction
12. "Follow Me" - Pain - Cynic Paradise
13. "Delirium" - Lock Up - Pleasure Paves Sewers
14. "Eaten" - Bloodbath - Nightmares Made Flesh
15. "Stillborn Savior" - Bloodbath - Nightmares Made Flesh


Come and Get It!

__________________
Last.FM
101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too