Mental Cruelty – Zwielicht (Review)

This is the fourth album from German deathcore band Mental Cruelty.

Following on from 2019’s Inferis and 2021’s huge A Hill to Die Upon, Mental Cruelty have now returned with the crushing Zwielicht. Boasting 49 minutes of new material, as well as a new singer, this material continues Mental Cruelty’s forward progression, marking another shift in style towards even more blackened waters than the band waded in on A Hill to Die Upon.

Yes, on Zwielicht Mental Cruelty have doubled down on their blackened aspect, creating songs that are both razor sharp and epic. The band have taken more influences from symphonic black metal and merged them with their aggressive deathcore to produce an album that’s intense and grandiose. Elements of brutality still exist in the music, but these have been marginalised in favour of black metal aggression, skin-flaying hostility, and infernal atmosphere.

The songs mix black metal, death metal, and deathcore together well, resulting in a contemporary brand of blackened intensity. Combining atmosphere with scathing violence, these songs are easy to enjoy if you’re into the style. It’s the sort of thing you’re pretty much sure to like if you’re a fan of bands like Lorna Shore, Bonecarver, A Wake in Providence, Worm Shepherd, Ov Sulfur, and similar.

Mental Cruelty’s new singer has a suitably daemonic voice. Covering almost every form of growl, gurgle, and shriek, he delivers exactly the sort of performance you’d want for something like this. Additionally, and less expected, are powerful clean vocals that are occasionally deployed in select places, very effectively. I’m not 100% sure if these clean vocals are from the lead vocalist or somebody else, but either way, they’re really damn good.

If this breed of blackened extremity hits the spot for you, then make sure you check out Mental Cruelty’s latest.

Highly recommended.