Germany’s extreme metal band Mental Cruelty have resurrected themselves from the underground to create the most heaviest, jaw-dropping albums I’ve heard all year long. After some successful albums in their career that shot themselves on the map with 2019’s Inferis being the finest release in their catalog, 2021’s A Hill To Die Upon is a much more improved release and easily the best material the band has done to date. Combining elements of deathcore, brutal death metal and down-tempo, this album demonstrated growth, maturity and finest achievements around that is surely, but steadily a absolute monstrous release start to finish.
Musically, it follows up right after Inferis left off continuing the band’s destructive path to unleash carnage, chaos and annihilation. Lyrically, Inferis discusses many metaphorical themes from Satanism, Armageddon, misanthropy and little trace of biblical references that’s extremely well written as the narration continues to flow naturally without any sort of damages to the album’s wonderfully listened context. Now, if you thought their past albums were hungering and eviscerated, this album uses relentless brutality, slam-esque instrumentals and vicious monolithic slabs of unrelenting, aggressively driven breakdowns that makes your skull go crazy.
This album also adds originality, creativity and a very well artistic approach as they’ve concentrated many experimenting compositions that almost brings out a Ingested meets Vulvodynia with traces of Osiah vibes as you get wide variations of slam, deathcore, brutal death and traditional signatures of extreme metal that’s so well played and one of the album’s biggest highlights after listening to the album front to back. Tracks such as Eternal Eclipse, A Hill To Die Upon, The Left Hand Path, King Ov Fire and Fossenbratethese songs incorporated destructive sequences, purifying instrumentals, headbanging assaults and distinguished production that gives the album a much more philosophical sound. A Hill To Die Upon not only marked a earthborn chapter in Mental Cruelty’s discography but fans of Inferis and past releases surely, but steadying are gonna love what these German’s have created next for generations to come.
Overall Score: 9.5/10
Review by Jake Butler
