Review by Death8699 on December 17, 2018.

This album deserves a high rating due to the originality of the songwriting and aura of a grim, dark music of death. These guys have been around for a while and this brutally raw release does the metal community justice. Tempos vary, nothing overly fast and the production was superb. The guitars raw sounding with heavy distortion that ignites each song. The vocals go well along with the music. The songs are about 4-5 minutes in length and are filled with deathly founded overtures with its own unique riff structure. Everything on here is just amazing. I would give it an even higher rating if the leads were better. There were only a few though.

I'd have to say that Grave plays some pretty gruesome music, not something that you want to listen to on a dark, gloomy, depressing day. They fit that aura with their music. There's no compromise. It's one of my favorites from them since some of their albums aren't so good in the production department. But this one dominates. My contention is that prior releases may have sounded heavier as well as more raw, but still this one is a dominating factor in the discography. I enjoyed every song, hands down.

The things that I loved about this album are the vocals and guitar. I'd have to say that they are a well established Swedish band that simply slays with their guitar frenzies. They're controlled though, not out of control. Some extreme bands go a little overboard in their tempos, Grave keeps it level with not so fast songs and a grim sound to them. They are definitely a part of the dark underground. In my opinion, they've really been underrated and overlooked. But I will say this, many years since its release and I'm still writing about this one.  I was quite impressed and something that never gets old.

Buy the physical CD for this album if you haven't already. Show the band some support, I ordered it after I heard in on digital. I thought to myself "I have to have this album." It's so unique and uncompromising. It's something to play if you feel like hearing grim death metal. I really thought each track had its own unique sound to it. I simply loved the guitar sounds. And the production did it justice which made it much better to listen to. I would suggest this album to any death metal fan. Dominance of an album!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Jack on August 27, 2001.

“Penetralia” was the infamous Hypocrisy’s first release. Peter even back in ’92 was cutting and producing fine ass records, and this is no exception. What separated Hypocrisy from the other death rabble, for me, was always the crisp and crystal production values that Peter instilled with every release for his trump card.

To cut straight to the point, “Penetralia” is a primitive release, what is now generic song titles are readily abound throughout this release, ‘Burn by the Cross’ & ‘Left to Rot’ being fine examples of this. But it is death metal, so suffering and butchery are the norm. What is not the norm is the superb musicianship displayed by these five lads. Masse Broberg (vocals) and Jonas Osterberg (guitars) are no longer with Hypocrisy to my knowledge at this moment, but when they were they did an outstanding job. Masse handles his death bellows with true class and style for one so young.

For ’92 this was kick ass, now it's still a pretty wrenching affair, and has not really lost much. There are a few small glimpses of what Hypocrisy are today, mostly in the epic 6 minute closer and title track, ‘Penetralia’. Complete with keyboards for a ’92 death release, this song was something of a landmark, slow brooding chanting and rhythmic drumming create a classy tempo for the end of the debut Hypocrisy album.

Bottom Line: What usually ruined albums 10 years ago was the shit awful production, make no mistake, this is ultimate production and fine death tracks.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by Jack on August 27, 2001.

“Penetralia” was the infamous Hypocrisy’s first release. Peter even back in ’92 was cutting and producing fine ass records, and this is no exception. What separated Hypocrisy from the other death rabble, for me, was always the crisp and crystal production values that Peter instilled with every release for his trump card.

To cut straight to the point, “Penetralia” is a primitive release, what is now generic song titles are readily abound throughout this release, ‘Burn by the Cross’ & ‘Left to Rot’ being fine examples of this. But it is death metal, so suffering and butchery are the norm. What is not the norm is the superb musicianship displayed by these five lads. Masse Broberg (vocals) and Jonas Osterberg (guitars) are no longer with Hypocrisy to my knowledge at this moment, but when they were they did an outstanding job. Masse handles his death bellows with true class and style for one so young.

For ’92 this was kick ass, now it's still a pretty wrenching affair, and has not really lost much. There are a few small glimpses of what Hypocrisy are today, mostly in the epic 6 minute closer and title track, ‘Penetralia’. Complete with keyboards for a ’92 death release, this song was something of a landmark, slow brooding chanting and rhythmic drumming create a classy tempo for the end of the debut Hypocrisy album.

Bottom Line: What usually ruined albums 10 years ago was the shit awful production, make no mistake, this is ultimate production and fine death tracks.

Rating: 7 out of 10