Mental Cruelty - A Hill To Die Upon (Digipak CD)

MENTAL CRUELTY (Germany) - A Hill To Die Upon CD (2021) (sealed Digipak CD).  If you think you know what this album is all about based on their last, think again. Brutal Death Metal and Slamcore are still heavily featured, but a delicious swirl of Melodic Black Metal invigorates the band’s sound in 2021. It’s almost as though the band could not choose between Death Metal and Black Metal, and that makes for incredibly fortunate news for the listener. 

You get the best of both worlds, and with repeated listens, it will become clear that the band are having an absolute blast playing it. "A Hill To Die Upon" brims with enthusiasm and vigor, crushing riffs and blistering solos, and a renewed lust for destruction the likes of which we haven’t witnessed from this particular subset of modern brutality in what feels like years.  And, just in case you’re worried that these gents defenestrated songwriting excellence entirely to bear this fresh fusion, rest assured that said songwriting is precisely the reason why this album works.  Recommended for fans of Whitechapel, Cytotoxin, Rings of Saturn and Brand of Sacrifice.  **originally published on angrymetalguy.com**  Unique Leader Records ‎– ULR306