Age Of Excuse II

Mgla's 'Age Of Excuse II' is a dark and introspective exploration of modern society's moral and spiritual decay. The song opens with the line 'The stench of zeitgeist,' immediately setting a tone of disillusionment with the current era. The 'incense of discarded shrines' suggests a world where once-sacred values and beliefs have been abandoned, replaced by superficiality and deceit. The imagery of 'corpses put on powder and rouge' evokes a sense of artificiality, as if society is merely dressing up its decay to maintain a facade of normalcy.

The song's lyrics delve deeper into this theme, describing a world where the soul has become a 'grimy lump,' detached from any higher spiritual purpose. The 'grinder and the abattoir' symbolize the relentless, dehumanizing forces at play, reducing life to a monotonous cycle of suffering and despair. The juxtaposition of 'grayness and glitz' and 'glitter and Gehinnom' (a reference to a place of torment in Jewish tradition) highlights the stark contrast between the superficial allure of modern life and its underlying emptiness.

As the song progresses, it paints a bleak picture of a 'land of Sun gone down,' where even the Devil is indifferent to the world's plight. The call for a 'new flood' and 'an assortment of plagues' reflects a desire for a cataclysmic cleansing, a reset to wash away the accumulated filth and corruption. The final lines, 'Even the Devil won't care enough to spit in the mud,' underscore the depth of the song's nihilism, suggesting that the world has fallen so far that even malevolent forces have lost interest in it.

Mgla's musical style, characterized by its raw, atmospheric black metal sound, complements the song's themes perfectly. The relentless, driving rhythms and haunting melodies create a sense of impending doom, mirroring the lyrical content's grim outlook on the state of the world. 'Age Of Excuse II' is a powerful commentary on the disillusionment and despair that many feel in the face of modernity's hollow promises and moral decay.