Ego:genesis

Perhaps Mental Torment naming their comeback second album Ego:genesis makes the Ukrainian sextet sound like a tech death outfit, but lush and slow doom is on offer instead. After a 4 year hiatus following On the Verge…, they finally got round to recording a follow-up, and enough work has gone into the result to make sure that gothic or melodic doom fans will keep this in their rotation for a while. Featuring the melodies of names like Saturnus or Swallow The Sun alongside a restrained slowness more akin to funeral acts Doom:VS and Skepticism, Mental Torment nevertheless control song length to no more than 8 minutes, thus allowing a more accessible element to enter their otherwise austere style. Doom death tends to offer up a bit of anguish, and I’d hardly expect a group named Mental Torment to differ in that respect; indeed, low miserable vocals share duty with pained yells and cleaner, more reflective passages that lend to the overall catharsis.

Across 51 minutes, I occasionally find lead guitar, piano, and various other keys mediating the steady riffing, which makes Ego:genesis more expressive than some similar acts. Admittedly, the songs blend together at times despite healthy construction that includes plenty of instrumental time, perhaps due to the difficulty of adjusting pace when in such a crushing and emotive mood. As such, I’d recommend trying out the more specific tracks first, such as ‘Conclusion’ with its constant lead guitar shading, and then see whether the atmosphere can do anything for your mood. I imagine Mental Torment would be great to have on repeat while going through tough times; however, I’ve not yet had an experience with the album where everything clicked all of a sudden. All the same, a dreamy and epic journey.


Originally written (in edited form) for Metalegion #10 - www.metalegion.com