Translating to “The Inbetween World”, Zwischenwelt is a slice of Lovecraftian inspired Melodic Death Metal mixed in with some elements of modern metal and plenty of symphonic grandeur. With inspiration from the darkest depths and unfathomable, primordial forces which the human mind cannot comprehend, Pentarium join a growing list of artists who have turned to Lovecraftian themes in recent years, Belgian death metal/djent project Squidhead being one earlier this year. So once again, for the glory of the great old ones, into the darkness we go!
Content wise, the release is split between German and English vocals so I can honestly say I only have half the picture the lyrics put across (short of finding someone who is fluent in both languages or trying to transpose, translate and abuse Google Translate) but the parts I have are pretty much in-line with most things related to the inspirations for it: death, destruction, hopelessness. It is all fairly standard – some lyrics are direct quotes or slight paraphrasings from either, the literature or cinematic sources. Some songs detail destruction, others paint a picture of descending into madness and the loss of humanity/identity.
Musically, it isn’t as straight forward as it may initially seem.
On a first listen, it would be easy to just dismiss the musical delivery as modern metal meets melodeath, similar in delivery to In Flames post-2006, but with more synth elements present. Vocally, in both English and German, it is raw and venomous for the majority of the album, packing plenty of growls, screams and even some dips into clean/melodic singing. Looking into things a little deeper says otherwise. Whilst the similarity to MDM-Leaning modern metal remains, it is clear that there are more elements of symphonic influence than what is initially there. If you were to strip away the keyboard elements, you would be left with some heavy but fairly generic melodeath which doesn’t exactly do much for what the lyrics are trying to put across. When you put the synths in, this all changes.
Tracks like “Rise Of The Outer Gods” would just be dull tracks without the symphonic overtures and manipulations. Melodic augmentation and atmospheric influence turns this generic groove based track into something more vibrant and engaging. “Abschied” is reminiscent of Machine Head but with MDM style choruses, giving it more presence where needed. “Wo worte vertsagen” is a powerfully delivered Euro-feel melodic metal track and the final track “Vor Dem Strum” follows in this style.
Other than that, this release is pretty much what its name translates to. It is between things. It’s not an out and out MDM release and it isn’t a symphonic metal release either. The synergy of the two musical approaches doesn’t quite work – there is too much synth influence. Whilst this may have been a compositional winner in terms of how it impacts on the release atmospherically, the metal side of things is fairly repetitive, linear and at times, a little stale. Zwischenwelt is much like the ‘Unimaginable’ old-ones – you cannot quite say for certain what it truly is. A MDM release with a large synth presence? A heavy symphonic metal release? Whatever it is, it certainly reveals a bleak future if those in the depths do break free.
(5.5/10 Fraggle)
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