Everything comes to an end, so why even bother? "Dreary Premonitions" leans heavily into the 'dreary' section of its namesake, maybe a little too far for its own good, but it undeniably encapsulates it. It's an extremely nihilistic and negative level at its core, with deeply pessimistic messages such as "WHY BOTHER" and "IT'S ALL FOR NOTHING" plastered across it. I think a decent amount of people would find it too melodramatic, edgy, and on-the-nose if it came today, especially nowadays where this sort of unrelentingly brooding mindset is ridiculed (take for example how people have reacted to "WhyMeWhyMeWhyMeWhyMe" in the years following its release). However, at the time, I'd say it was an interesting level due to the novel and 'dreary' ambience it contained. "Dreary Premonitions" is not subtle in its intentions, but what is abstract about it is its narrative (if it even has any). At its core, it could be interpreted as a level about death and impermanence. An eye aimlessly darts around as it glitches and flashes a myraid of colors. An image of a battery slowly flickers as its life is drained away. A Wi-Fi signal is slowly weakened. A featureless figure sits on a bench, wasting away as the environment around it deteriorates. This level really wants to hammer into you that nothing can truly last.

I think the glitch effects are impressive for the time that it came out (I remember really liking this level when it came out due to the song, atmosphere and effects). Although, it doesn't feel too incredibly cohesive now that I think about it. It's a depressing level about how you should give up because nothing lasts forever, but does that really make everything we do in life redundant? Perhaps "Dreary Premonitions" is too narrow-minded. It does feature nice visuals but they're only very loosely connected to one another (even my reading of it as an interpretation of death could be excessive, it's possible it's just a collection of interesting visuals for the sake of it). It does end a little too abruptly, but maybe that's part of the whole 'everything ends' theme that ties the whole level together.