“No leaves left on the tree of life.”
In the past couple years, deathcore has shockingly claimed a spot at the forefront of extreme metal, with acts such as Brand of Sacrifice, Fit For An Autopsy, Shadow of Intent, and of-course Lorna Shore, becoming the talk of metal communities across the spectrum. This rise in popularity was accompanied by a variety of sonic trends being adopted by numerous new artists looking to make their mark on the genre, with the most popular of these strains undoubtedly being the symphonic, often black metal-inspired flavor most notably led by Lorna Shore and Shadow of Intent. Unfortunately, this has resulted in the sound becoming immensely saturated, as thousands of projects have emerged attempting to capture the same blend of drama and fury that are maintained by those at the top. However, there have been exceptions, and one of those is German quintet Mental Cruelty, who made massive waves in the scene with the release of their 2021 album A Hill to Die Upon. The album not only became one of the more well-received albums to emerge during the ‘blackened deathcore renaissance,’ but it also came as a shock seeing as the group had already made a name for themselves in the new wave of slamming deathcore that had spread throughout the 2010s. This made A Hill to Die Upon all the more notable, as it had not only been a sizable shift in sound for Mental Cruelty, but realistically the face of blackened deathcore in 2021 alongside Lorna Shore’s viral …And I Return to Nothingness EP.
Fast-forward to 2023, and Mental Cruelty has delivered their much anticipated follow-up, Zwielicht. A lot is riding on this release; not only is it the follow-up to an extremely well-regarded album, but a lot has changed in the Mental Cruelty camp since we last heard from them, including line-up changes and a signing with the notorious Century Media Records. So does Zwielicht deliver? Well, before getting into specifics, let us start by clarifying that there is a lot of good to be found throughout the 49-minute runtime. The orchestral arrangements are appropriately massive and fun, the guitarwork specifically in the more evil and epic parts of the record is rife with personality, the drumming is absolutely ferocious, and the vocals of newcomer Lukas Nicolai are abrasively delivered with an impressive amount of expression. However, the album is not perfect, and unfortunately suffers the same shortcomings as many of its counterparts: much of the tracklist can blend together and, more importantly, the breakdowns often feel tacked on and pointless, more the result of a trend than the natural progression of the music.
The former shortcoming is nowhere near as notable as the latter; a bulky, sometimes monotonous, tracklist in many ways comes with the deathcore territory and was even a problem I had with A Hill to Die Upon. Albums of this length are realistically only able to escape this without fully switching genres by including an array of nuances and constantly shaking up the song structures, which is done only to a minimal degree on Zweilicht. Tracks such as “Nordlys”, “The Arrogance of Agony”, and lead single “Symphony of a Dying Star” stylistically shake things up the most by far. The former 2 are personal favorites for multiple reasons: not only are they the most atmospheric and subdued tracks on the album, particularly in the case of “The Arrogance of Agony”, but they do not feature boring, unnecessarily brutal breakdowns (more on that later). When it comes to “Symphony of a Dying Star”, the song boasts an unexpected neo-classical flair extremely reminiscent of the more power metal-inspired flavors of early 2000s melodic death metal ala Wintersun and Children of Bodom. Additionally, there are other tracks on the album which possess some neat nuances, such as the gruff yells found throughout “Obsessis a Daemonio” and the open orchestral sections of “Forgotten Kings”, but these songs can often blend in when looking at the full album. Some respect can also be given for opening track “Midtvinter” and the title track, which serves as a mid-album interlude. Both of these tracks, while admittedly a bit odd at first, do serve to shake up the tracklist and can especially contribute to the folk-y atmosphere of the record.
Unfortunately, this leads to an issue which is somewhat a plague in this style of deathcore: excessively brutal breakdowns being tacked onto tracks that do not need them. With the exceptions of “Nordlys” and “The Arrogance of Agony”, every track on Zweilicht features varying quantities of boring, over-the-top breakdowns that simply do not need to be there. These breakdowns all sound the same, almost always come out of nowhere, do virtually nothing to contribute to the songs except screw with the pacing, and often ruin the moods and emotions previously set by the songs. Some of the largest offenders of this on the album are “Mortal Shells” and lead single “Symphony of a Dying Star”. In the case of “Mortal Shells”, this is a massive disappointment because this track otherwise could be one of the highlights of the record. Featuring an extra triumphant and epic sound that culminates into a truly beautiful chorus which even includes cleans, the song evokes a powerful mood that seriously does not warrant not just one, but two generic breakdowns. And to make matters even worse, the breakdown occurs immediately following the first chorus, causing it to sound extra tacked-on and jolting. Having such a beautiful and triumphant moment immediately leading into a drop in this way feels genuinely cheap, and the track never fully recovers either – especially when considering that it ends with a second breakdown that is equally lacking in personality.
“Symphony of a Dying Star” is another track I’d like to point out for the breakdown, because it stands out in that it also has a breakdown which actually works. At about 50 seconds, the song drops into a sort of mini-breakdown which not only does not overstay its welcome but also does not overkill the brutality. It is short, sweet, and does not ruin the pacing before leading into the next part. Unfortunately, they could not leave a good thing be, as not even a minute later the song drops into another breakdown which is way too brutal for a song which is otherwise epic and fun. As a result, the pacing of the song is thrown off and only recovers near the end. This is a special case in this regard, as often the tracks fail to do so. Tracks such as “Pest”, “Forgotten Kings”, and underwhelming closer “A Tale of Salt and Light” all fall victim to breakdowns that genuinely feel pointless and make the songs almost skippable. It may seem extreme to think about it like this, but when the breakdowns are often up to 45 seconds long and smacked straight in the middle of the tracks, it becomes extremely grating. Breakdowns are, of course, a staple in deathcore, and Mental Cruelty are most likely trying to ensure that they have something for older fans, but this comes at the cost of the songs’ overall complexion pretty much every time.
Zweilicht is in no way a bad record, and fans of the blackened deathcore are almost guaranteed to love it. However, it falls victim to the tropes of the genre to devastating degrees, particularly with those cursed breakdowns. Mental Cruelty are fully capable of taking the listener on fun, entertaining adventures with their songs, (as proven by tracks such as “Nordlys” and “The Arrogance of Agony”), which is a strength that will hopefully continue to hone in on. However, shedding the constraints of their past, and getting rid of, or at least easing up, on the unnecessary breakdowns is going to be an integral step in getting the band to its peak. In this way, Zweilicht simultaneously highlights the group’s strengths and weaknesses to extreme heights, which has the potential to lead Mental Cruelty to greatness on future releases. But for now, we are left with what can be best interpreted as a step in their development.
6/10