It didn’t take very long for an amazing deathcore release to drop. Right at the beginning of the year, German-based Mental Cruelty dropped their first full length, entitled “Purgatorium”, this album is a brutal one, filled with plenty of breakdowns and blast beats for any extreme metal fan. “Chapter 1: The Rotting World Above” kicks this album off on a really solid note. After an ambient intro, an awesome guitar riff leads into the main song, which is very fast and heavy. This song also shows of the chugging, which while featured heavy on here, is done in a way which doesn’t make it feel redundant. This is followed by “Chapter 2: Rise of the Antichrist”, a very tech death inspired song. This is an unrelenting track that doesn’t let up for the duration of its runtime. “Vicarius Filii Dei” is a very heavy song, that changes pace throughout without sacrificing its heaviness.
This one feels very deathcore influenced, and has some really tight writing. “Father of Abomination” is next, and is a more hardcore influenced track, it has a nice riff, and a really nice ending breakdown. Next is the creepy interlude, “Genesis (Lies From the Beginning)”, which leads directly into “The Venerable One”. This track has plenty of chugging, but also features some top notch writing, and utilizes the full vocal range this group has at their disposal. The band slows it down a bit for “Immortalizing Purgatory”, however they sacrifice none of the heaviness. The band’s solid writing continues, and they show how a song can start of slow and natural turn into a very fast and unrelenting track. Lastly is “The Incantation of Human Annihilation” which is a very heavy and chug filled song. While it has some vocals, it mostly is an instrumental, and allows the band to really let their music stand out, ending the album on a high note. This is a very solid album. While it does play it safe, and could’ve used some more variation in some parts, this is a very solid album, and one deathcore fan should scope out.
Overall Score: 9.0/10
Review by Sam Hookom
