Mental Cruelty awaken 'The Serpent Of Midgard' with crushing new single and video • GRIMM Gent

MENTAL CRUELTY unleash their crushing new single “The Serpent of Midgard”. Diving deeper into Norse mythology, the track tells the tale of Loki’s second child, Jörmungandr, and his legendary final battle with Thor. Blending crushing heaviness with black metal and melodic death metal influences, the song captures their fateful confrontation as the giant serpent rises from the depths. Never wake the giant – or witness the end of the world.

MENTAL CRUELTY about the new single:

“On last year’s ‘Helheim,’ we expanded our instruments beyond typical deathcore fare (guitar, bass, drums and, of course, monstrous vocals) to include folk music’s talharpa, aiding in the telling of Norse mythology’s Hel. It’s only appropriate we continue darkening our sound with more black metal and melodeath inspirations as we tell the story of her brother, Jörmungandr, the titular ‘Serpent of Midgard,’ in his epic ocean battle with his uncle Thor. For those unfamiliar with the folklore, it ends in both of their demises: talk about family issues!

Musically, we wanted to capture the intensity of the conflict, with our guitarist Nahuel Lozano’s working title of ‘Gojibehe’ summing up key influences. You can guess those, but we’ll spell out the inspiration behind the chunky mid-section and the closest thing we get to a full-on breakdown here: our brothers Signs of the Swarm and the insane tones on their latest album!

But while we learned from bands we look up to and friends alike musically, sadly, we never learn from ourselves and once again shot the music video in subzero temperatures. The results are worth it—you can see for yourself—but damn, that was cold.”

Following a packed touring schedule across Europe and North America, MENTAL CRUELTY will return to the road later this year for an extensive European headline tour. Joined by Ov Sulfur and Extermination Dismemberment, with Acranius and Sun Eater appearing on select dates, the tour will take the band across 21 cities throughout Europe from late November to December.

European Headline Tour w/ Ov Sulfur, Extermination Dismemberment, Acranius, Sun Eater

27.11🇳🇱Rotterdam @ Baroeg ~
28.11🇩🇪Köln @ Club Volta ~
29.11🇳🇱Nijmegen @ Doornrosje ~
30.11🇬🇧Birmingham @ Asylum ~
02.12🇬🇧Manchester @ Academy 3 ~
03.12🇬🇧London @ Downstairs At The Dome ~
04.12🇫🇷Paris @ Glazart ~
05.12🇧🇪Antwerp @ Zappa ~
06.12🇩🇪Hamburg @ Bahnhof Pauli ^
07.12🇩🇰Copenhagen @ Hotel Cecil ^
08.12🇸🇪Stockholm @ Kollektivet Livet ^
10.12🇫🇮Jyväskylä @ Lutakko ^
11.12🇫🇮Helsinki @ Ääniwalli ^
13.12🇸🇪Gothenburg @ Monument ^
14.12🇩🇪Berlin @ Hole 44 ^
15.12🇨🇿Prague @ Rock Café ^
16.12🇩🇪Frankfurt @ Das Bett ~ ^
17.12🇩🇪München @ Backstage ^
18.12🇨🇭Aarau @ KIFF ^
19.12 🇩🇪Schweinfurt @ Alter Stattbahnhof ^
20.12🇩🇪Karlsruhe @ Substage ^

^ w/ Acranius
~ ⁠w/ Sun Eater

Get your tickets now: https://bnds.us/i4cbke

Mental Cruelty have been descending into darkness since 2014 when they started as a slamming deathcore band in Karlsruhe, Germany. Since then, they’ve steadily blackened their sound, most hauntingly on 2023’s Zwielicht and predecessor A Hill to Die Upon (2021). New single “The Serpent of Midgard” and last year’s “Helheim” (both based on Loki’s children from Norse mythology) push the evolution even further, embracing folk metal and melodeath in addition to black metal’s frosty bite.

It’s the kind of genre fluidity that has allowed them to play with Kanonenfieber and Cradle of Filth, in addition to Lorna Shore, Shadow of Intent, Signs of the Swarm, Angelmaker, Synestia, Carnifex and more. With a forthcoming European headline tour debut, featuring 2024 tourmates Ov Sulfur and Extermination Dismemberment, and hints of more to come, it’s clear a blackened Nacht is coming.

Say, does Loki have any other kids?