German quartet Mental Cruelty have been through one hell of a journey since their inception as a brutal slamming deathcore band in 2014. Moving from an awesome launch with Purgatorium to anemic symphonic deathcore with Inferis, and then drawing inspiration from the blackened deathcore trend for a return to form with A Hill to Die Upon and Zwielicht, the band saw many lineup changes and radical shifts in execution. Now with only one member left who’s been there for every LP, Mental Cruelty enters another major evolution in their sound. What could I expect from fifth release, Echoes of a Forlorn Land?
Any expectations I had, Mental Cruelty disposed of with brutal prejudice. Deathcore functions primarily as an ancestral echo of their prior selves as Mental Cruelty crafted Echoes of a Forlorn Land as a brutal, folky melodic black/death excursion. Far more closely related to Brymir or Ensiferum than anything in the popular symphonic deathcore mainstream like Lorna Shore, Mental Cruelty’s latest sound is fast, exuberant, epic, and punishing. Tectonic riffs and slammy swagger still take high priority despite a sharp lean towards the melodious and adventurous, which only reinforces Mental Cruelty’s musicians as the most versatile songwriters in their category. A lyrical shift towards Norse mythology and beast folklore further distances Echoes of a Forlorn Land from past releases, and permits an expansion of scope and scale they haven’t approached before, save for the unbelievable “Symphony of a Dying Star.”1 The last bastions of Mental Cruelty’s deathcore DNA are: Lukas Nicolai’s powerhouse vocals, which curl and snake across the record with an uncanny muscularity; and an Industry Standard™ production that is too loud, too compact, and too polished to do this material proper justice.2
Nonetheless, Echoes is easily Mental Cruelty’s best album, and that boils down to songwriting and performance. Of the eleven songs available (two of which are short instrumentals), ten of them are absolute bangers charging ahead with distinct voices. Song o’ the Year Finalist “Blood for Blood” roils with a fury that ensnares me in an instant, searing the skin with white-hot black metal scorches and bruising the deepest tissues with slamming death riffs delivered at a blistering pace. A light touch of folk bounce meshes with a counterintuitive smoothness to that brutal assault, and persists thusly on other highlights like “The Serpent of Midgard” and gargantuan closing epic “Ride of the Valkyries.” Mental Cruelty brings the speed and sensationalism to melodeath-heavy tracks like “Hellheim” and “Cry of Batariel.” The former boasts a Game of Thrones-like character delivered through mid-toned strings and regal guitar melodies; meanwhile, the latter prioritizes a galloping Brymir sprint and frosty synth work. Yet more variety in the Omnivortex-esque tech-death riffs of “Draugar” and the Amon Amarth-ian martial stomp—bolstered by Emperor-ed black metal scrapes—of “Raise the Raven Banner” showcases Mental Cruelty’s chimeric personality without abandoning the key attributes that make them instantly recognizable. Even opener proper “Fenrir,” perhaps the most “standard” Mental Cruelty number, reaches for the moon with ferocious blackened death riffs reminiscent of Keres’ work.
Mental Cruelty are world-class musicians, each performer delivering a stunning exhibition of skill and musical acumen such that I have a difficult time choosing who stole the show. However, I can be sure the stereotypical mastering job didn’t. Echoes’ mix allows everything to be heard in a fairly balanced manner, but that’s something of a minor miracle in itself, as Echoes is otherwise very loud and heavily compressed for something so richly layered. It’s not so crushed as to rob me of the joy of discovery, though. Repeat spins still reveal delicious morsels that I missed at first—the wiggy supporting leads in “The Serpent of Midgard,” the relentless evolution of riff into harmonized synchronizations in “Fenrir,” “Blood for Blood,” and “Raise the Raven Banner,” or the subtly Gothic, Silhouette-like atmosphere conjured in “Frost.” All the same, Echoes would’ve found even greater success were it given an airier production more in line with folk-heavy acts like Heilung and Paara, or more of the raw grit heard from Kull.
Rating Echoes of a Forlorn Land is a challenge. Despite my enthusiasm for its content and my assuredness that it ranks well into my Top Ten, Echoes is also the first example in recent memory of a record I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing that would be gunning for my top spot with a different production. Aside from that one nagging issue, Mental Cruelty delivered exactly the record I always hoped they would make, but never let myself believe would come to pass. How the fuck are they gonna follow this one up?
Rating: Great!
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Century Media Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Official
Releases Worldwide: October 23rd, 2026
Deathcore is worryingly popular (even as a fan), so one of the most unexpected turns is seeing a major stalwart almost completely move away from genre tenets. Thankfully (sorry, deathcore), that is exactly what Mental Cruelty has done with their latest record, Echoes of a Forlorn Land. Instead of staccato breakdowns, snarly vocal asides, and erratic pacing, the follow-up to Zwielicht is blackened melodeath with folk metal. Melody fuels Mental Cruelty now, but do they drive a wedge into their fanbase like so many bands before who have taken similar creative leaps?
The good news is that while Echoes of a Forlorn Land shows a major shift in the band’s overall sound, it is still heavy, rich with black metal influence, and, despite its melodicism, deathcore-adjacent. “The Serpent of Midgard” opens with blast beats and vocal theatrics before lurching into a riff worthy of the best pick-scrapers out there. “Draugar” builds to a massive crescendo of elephant stomping chuggs, neck-breaking groove, and a few more scrapes for good measure. While Mental Cruelty keeps the breakdowns, they are tastefully placed, retaining the immaculate rhythms while letting us all lose ourselves in a little bit of stank-facery. Surrounding these crushing asides are tracks as surprising in their melodic sensibilities as they are in their willingness to delve into folk, black metal, and groove. Mental Cruelty carves out their unique space in the beyond-saturated genre of Viking-themed metal, with lyrics that easily outdo the stagnant ideas of staples like Amon Amarth or Týr.
Mental Cruelty are clearly at their peak in terms of sheer talent. Lukas Nicolai is one of the best vocalists around, rivaling and, dare I say, surpassing favorites like Will Ramos with his uniquely powerful (yet tastefully used) clean singing, incredible lows, consistent highs, and sense of melody. Obviously, Mental Cruelty must’ve kept their love for black metal and melodeath in their back pocket for a rainy day, because Echoes of a Forlorn Land plays like a band that’s been doing this for years. The songs are catchy and crammed with sing-along moments but still wonderfully dark and evil. “Cry of Batariel” is oddly uplifting despite the core lyric of “Satan, can you hear me? Please take me down to hell.” This is all before Nicolai drops into rolling his “r” like Trevor Strnad while Jonathan Koltun’s blasts sear your flesh. Mental Cruelty’s latest is chock-full of riffs and solos worthy of melodeath greats. Nahuel Lozano and Marvin Kessler impress, track after track. “Fenrir” opens with a blackened death tremolo worthy of Dormant Ordeal; “Blood For Blood” drops into a ripping death-metal whirlwind after leading with bouncing folk leads. “Raise the Raven Banner” is a massive epic that will make you wish there were a battle to join in the immediate vicinity.
Echoes of a Forlorn Land isn’t perfect. The biggest culprit is that Mental Cruelty is still a victim of modern deathcore production. The result is an album that is slightly compressed and sounds far too clean for the content within. For an album so melodic and folksy, it really needs a richer tone with a rawer edge. Alongside that, not every melodic swing is a hit. While nearly every track is a ripper, the finale “Ride Of The Valkyries” is long-winded, cheesy, and a little too goofy for my taste. But this is truly personal preference; I know my fellow reviewer felt the opposite about the track. Tracks rely a bit too much on typical structures for my liking, and at times the songs feel built almost exclusively of choruses and big moments. These are nitpicks on a great record by any stretch of the imagination, but they still detracted from my overall enjoyment.
Mental Cruelty will definitely divide longtime fans of the band with Echoes of a Forlorn Land, but for the uninitiated and deathcore-disgusted, this may be the record to get you on board. Their latest is an immaculately paced melodic thrill-ride of Norse mythology with a heaping helping of blackened sensibility and a little bit o’ melodeath cheese sprinkled on top. Skipping this record because of the band’s deathcore history would be a disservice. Anyone looking for wonderful blackened, melodic folk-metal with a touch of core will be right at home with Mental Cruelty in this far-away land of tattered banners and bloody flags.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
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