Metalcatto
Eclectic is a great adjective to describe whatever Mental Cruelty is doing. Back in the day, I reviewed Zwielicht for another website. I liked it, so I’m excited to see whether the band has changed on Echoes of a Forlorn Land or remains the same. The guys have now mixed Nordic mythology into their sound. Does that mean this is Viking Deathcore? Truly horrifying. Let’s start.
OK, these echoes are going to unleash complete chaos in the valley. The album is everything Mental Cruelty has done before, but on steroids. The songwriting is more ambitious, and the arrangements operate on a much grander scale. Some parts even feel like an opera, except that someone is shouting at you most of the time and the volume reaches volcanic eruption levels.
The album starts with a more epic and melodic vibe before slowly transforming into the inhumane breakdown machine Mental Cruelty has become. There are a few seconds here and there to catch your breath, but mostly, you’re going to get smacked around by something somewhere between Gaerea and Dimmu Borgir. That’s probably the best way to describe what this sounds like. Now, it’s time to talk about the things that didn’t convince me about Echoes of a Forlorn Land.
The production is a brick wall, people. It takes a while to get used to. Also, the middle of the album becomes a bit too Deathcore for my taste, something the final track thankfully avoids. You know what my next question is. Do we really need a short piano track right before the end? Maybe this is one of those rare occasions when it’s justified, but you can’t help wondering whether a little more dynamic range could have made the whole thing shorter.
So, perhaps this is a sound improvement over the band’s previous work. I might not like every decision on Echoes of a Forlorn Land, but Mental Cruelty remains one of the strangest and most interesting bands out there. They can destroy your mental stability in no time, and I hope they keep evolving and making music that defies labels. Now, I need to go to the ear doctor to see how much this album took from me.
Label: Century Media
Release date: October 23th, 2026
Website: https://www.instagram.com/mental_cruelty
Country: Germany
Score: 3.5/5.0
