Today, German extreme metal force MENTAL CRUELTY unleash their highly anticipated new album, Echoes of a Forlorn Land, out now worldwide via Century Media Records.
Following the acclaimed Zwielicht, the band take their sound to new heights, fusing blackened deathcore brutality with epic melodic death metal, Nordic folk influences and cinematic orchestration. Inspired by Norse mythology and ancient folklore, the album takes listeners on a journey through forgotten kingdoms, merciless winters and legendary battles, balancing crushing heaviness with haunting melodies and atmospheric grandeur.
Vocalist Lukas Nicolai comments: “This album will take you on a journey. You’ll fight ancient beasts, brave an endless winter, and even soar through the sky with the Valkyries. To accompany you on this epic quest, we’ve poured everything into these songs, drawing from the darkest and most powerful elements of metal subgenres like black, folk, and death. We wrote the heaviest and most ambitious songs we could possibly imagine, then teamed up with one of metal’s most renowned producers and some of the finest video creators, too. We have worked harder on this album than anything in our life, and we think you can hear that in every note. Not a single corner was cut and we could not be happier with the result. So turn up the volume, dive in, and listen from front-to-back. Trust me, you won’t regret it!”
He adds about the focus track “Cry of Batariel”: “With ‘Cry Of Batariel,’ we’ve written our tribute to one of our all time favourite bands: Children Of Bodom, who were also a major influence on our new record. The song is fast, vicious, and comes with a little twist of humor. It tells the story of Batariel, a fallen angel from the Book of Enoch who gets expelled from heaven. In our version, he basically gives God the finger and declares that he’d rather head down to party with the outcasts. Because, let’s face it, heaven sounds pretty boring anyway. Even though the lyrics are thematically quite different from the rest of the record, we wanted to sneak in a little Easter egg for everyone who still listens to albums in full. The song’s acronym even spells out C.O.B. See what we did there?”
Produced, mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren (Dimmu Borgir, Behemoth, Amon Amarth, Opeth), Echoes of a Forlorn Land captures MENTAL CRUELTY at their most ambitious yet. From the ferocity of “Fenrir” and “The Serpent of Midgard” to the dark intensity of album-release focus track “Cry of Batariel” and the monumental finale “Ride of the Valkyries”, the record pushes beyond genre boundaries while staying true to the band’s uncompromising roots.
Rotterdam @ Baroeg ~
Köln @ Club Volta ~
Birmingham @ Asylum ~
Paris @ Glazart ~
Antwerp @ Zappa ~
Copenhagen @ Hotel Cecil ^
Stockholm @ Kollektivet Livet ^
Jyväskylä @ Lutakko ^
Prague @ Rock Café ^
Aarau @ KIFF ^