Mental Cruelty – A Hill To Die Upon
Release Date: 28th May 2021
Label: Unique Leader Records
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Genre: Deathcore, Technical Death Metal, Black Metal, Metalcore.
FFO: Shadow Of Intent, Infant Annihilator, The Faceless.
Review By: Ross Bowie
German extreme metal band Mental Cruelty are back with their third album A Hill To Die Upon. The band continue to be proactive, as this is their third album in five years, but the best of this band is still to come.
A Hill To Die Upon has shown steady growth from the band’s previous release Inferis but this is only the tip of the iceberg. The album entices the listener in with a beautiful acoustic intro which is matched with a luscious and patient guitar solo. This really is the calm before the storm. Once the intro gives way, you’re immediately hit with a rapid drum fill before breaking into the most blackened riff on the record. Ultima Hypocrita does a great job of showing you the band’s strengths. The song is as fast as it is brutal. The riffs come and go at breakneck speeds all while being backed up by furious blast beats. The vocal delivery throughout is savage and explores a whole range of terror. From deafening lows to high pitched screeching showcasing that Lucca Schmerler can do it all.
A lot of this album follows a similar pattern of relentless heaviness but it’s the orchestral passages that are the albums shining moments. When Mental Cruelty work in unison with the strings it takes the record up another level entirely. The orchestration is often used as a balancing act to the brutal noise the band are conjuring up but by the time Extermination Campaign blasts off even the once beautiful strings have turned to a darker and downright evil sounding accompaniment.
While a lot of the tricks Mental Cruelty do are reused throughout the album, they execute them so well that it’s hard to hold it against them. The blend of black metal with metalcore and occasionally technical death metal is very reminiscent of The Faceless and is great to hear a band explore that sound.
However, Mental Cruelty are going into a genre which is currently soaring high in the metal underground. In 2019 there was somewhat of a deathcore resurgence with bands releasing landmark records. It’s impossible to listen to this album and not make comparisons. The obvious one being Shadow Of Intent with their 2019 masterclass Melancholy. The records share a lot in common, yet Mental Cruelty are just a few steps behind their peers.
Mental Cruelty have been extremely proficient with their releases and for a band so young and early into their career it’s truly exciting to see where they’re going to go next. A Hill To Die Upon is a terrifyingly fun time with a lot to get hyped about, but this is only the beginning. Once Mental Cruelty expand on their influences and make a sound that is uniquely their own, they’re going to take the underground by storm.
(4 / 5)
