UMUR "Acid River" is the 5th full-length studio album by German progressive metal act Dark Millennium. The album was released through Massacre Records in January 2022. It´s the successor to "Where Oceans Collide" from 2018 and features the exact same lineup who recorded the predecessor. Dark Millennium formed in 1989 and initially disbanded in the mid-90s after releasing two demos and two full-length studio albums. They returned to the scene after 23 years and released "Midnight in the Void" in 2016. With the release of "Acid River" they have now released more albums after reuniting than they did during their original run.

Stylistically the material on "Acid River" continues in the rather unique progressive death/doom metal style which Dark Millennium have produced since their comeback. It´s adventurous, progressive, and often darkly melodic death/doom with omnipresent use of atmosphere enhancing keyboards/synths, melancholic guitar leads, heavy riffs, and Christian Mertens expressive and aggressive growling vocals in front. He is probably an aquired taste, but personally I think his voice and singing style are quite brilliant and certainly unique.

The album features seven tracks which are all 7 minutes long (give or take), which is a bit of an oddity really. It´s not something I noticed before I had a closer look at the tracklist, but I´m sure it must be deliberate. I can´t figure out why though, but rest assured that all tracks can easily handle a 7 minutes long playing time. It´s not that the tracks feature complex playing or overtly progressive structures, but they all build and go through various sections, which make them interesting throughout. The sound production is clear and detailed, but still heavy and raw enough for the album not to sound too polished. It´s a sound which suits the atmosphere and heaviness of the material.

Upon conclusion "Acid River" is another quality release by Dark Millennium. It doesn´t quite reach the mysterious and creative peaks of "Ashore the Celestial Burden" (1992), but for a 2022 release by a reunited death/doom metal act from the early 90s, it´s still quite the adventurous and intriguing album release and a 3.5 star (70%) is fully deserved (and that rating is maybe a bit too low).

siLLy puPPy DARK MILLENNIUM is famous in death doom metal circles for its unique stylistic approach that featured characteristics of old school death metal, traditional doom metal, moments of death’n’roll and a touch of progressive quirkiness which made them one of Germany’s most memorable bands of the early 1990s. The band originally formed in 1989 Bad Fredeburg and released a couple EPs and two albums before taking a hiatus which led to a disbanding. The band’s debut full-length “Ashore The Celestial Burden” is a death doom classic for its innovative mix of classic 80s NWOBHM, death metal, doom metal and progressive rock. Two albums clearly wasn’t enough and the band reformed in 2016 and seems to be back for good.

With an original four year run, DARK MILLENNIUM has now lasted six years thus outlasting its original existence. ACID RIVER is the band’s latest effort and features founding members Michael Burmann (guitars), Hilton Theissen (guitars, vocals, keyboards) and vocalist Christian Mertens. The newer members include bassist Gerold Kulenz who has been with the band since the 2016 comeback album “Midnight In The Void” and drummer Andre Schaltenberg who joined on for the band’s last release “Where Oceans Collide” which came out four years ago in 2018. The band has always been known for its highly unusual experimental approaches in the world of death doom metal and luckily none of that quirky charm has dissipated one iota after all these years.

ACID RIVER is a throwback to the early 90s when the world of death metal and death doom metal were a free for all and bands were experimenting in myriad directions. So intent was DARK MILLENNIUM to retain their classic era sound that the members opted to record using their original guitars, amps and drums with all recording done on analog. The number 7 is the name of the game here. There are seven tracks which are each around seven minutes long and harken back to the band’s classic era that led to two albums before a long hiatus. The band has perfectly retained all the idiosyncratic charm of off-kilter guitar riffs that alternate between energetic death’n’roll and old school death metal to oozing doom dread. What sets this album apart from what came before is the heightened use of keyboards which add a psychedelic element more in the vein of contemporary bands like Hail Spirit Noir.

Still on board are the unique vocal extremities of Christian Mertens who has that same sort of Ronnie James Dio of death metal approach that sounds a lot like Death’s Chuck Schuldiner. ACID RIVER is therefore a mix of classic DARK MILLENNIUM with a bit more emphasis on the psychedelic metal scene that mixes the catchy death’n’roll grooves with syncopated keyboard stabs and icy atmospheres. Tracks like “Vessel” add a bit of Middle Eastern musical charm to its viscous rampage and even though the band has never been the heaviest in terms of brash guitar bombast and rampaging speed, the band excels at the many curve balls it throws in terms of taking you to a place you weren’t expected. These progressive touches are very organic though and never feel forced. This band delivers a very exotic and eccentric musical style that doesn’t quite sound like death metal, doom metal or any other genre exactly.

As far as capturing the spirit of the band’s original run, DARK MILLENNIUM passes with flying colors. ACID RIVER is more than a worthy edition to the band’s woefully short list of releases but i’m thrilled that this band has resurrected its undeniably unique style because the slow creeping grooves accentuated by faster passages and the brilliance of Mertens’ creepy vocal style deliver the perfect recipe of classic metal madness that made the early 90s so memorable. Unlike many death metal bands that are all about playing as fast and loud as possible DARK MILLENNIUM displays an interesting array of dynamics and focuses on minor chord melodic constructs that are both pleasing and creepy at the same time. All in all ACID RIVER is a strong addition to the DM canon and one that i will be returning to often.

UMUR "Where Oceans Collide" is the 4th full-length studio album by German progressive metal act Dark Millennium. The album was released through Massacre Records in August 2018. It´s the successor to "Midnight in the Void" from 2016 and there´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as drummer Christoph Hesse has been replaced by Andre Schaltenberg. Dark Millennium formed in 1989 and initially disbanded in the mid-90s after releasing two demos and two full-length studio albums. They returned to the scene after 23 years and released "Midnight in the Void" in 2016.

"Midnight in the Void (2016)" was an independent release and it featured Dark Millennium shooting in many musical directions and although the quality of their output was generally high, the album was a bit inconsistent in style and also a bit too long for its own good (70 minutes long). It seems like the band have felt the same way about the album, as "Where Oceans Collide" is about 20 minutes shorter than its predecessor, and predominantly features shorter and more consistent in style tracks. The music style is progressive death/doom but Dark Millennium have their own distinct sound, and death/doom may not be the most correct label to put on their music, although some of the core elements of the band´s sound come from that style of music. There is one exception on the album, and that is the 11:44 minutes long closing track "Across Oceans of Souls", which is a classical music composition played on keyboards/piano.

Lead vocalist Christian Mertens has a raw snarling vocal style, which is quite intense and convincing, and the musicianship is generally on a high level on all posts. The sound production is professional and pretty well sounding too, so "Where Oceans Collide" is a good quality release on most parameters. The songwriting is consistent in quality, but it´s generally not a release featuring many standout tracks and upon conclusion "Where Oceans Collide" seldom reaches excellence although it is overall a decent release. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Midnight in the Void" is the 3rd full-length studio album by German progressive metal act Dark Millennium. The album was independently released in October 2016. It´s the successor to "Diana Read Peace" from 1993 and although there are 23 years between the two releases, there has only been one lineup change as bassist Klaus Pachura has been replaced by Gerold Kukulenz. Dark Millennium formed in 1989 and disbanded in the mid-90s after releasing two demos and two full-length studio albums. They started out playing death metal with doomy sections and occasionally progressive structures, but on "Diana Read Peace (1993)" there wasn´t many death metal elements left in the band´s music.

The death metal elements have returned on "Midnight in the Void", as lead vocalist Christian Mertens again treats the listener to his raw yet intelligible snarling vocals. He has the ability to sound both aggressive and desperate at the same time, and he is actually quite the unique singer. While he is probably the greatest asset here because of his incredible voice and delivery, he is unfortunately also the biggest downfall, because of the often badly written lyrics, which often border and sometimes enter cringe worthy territory. I hate to come down on him like this, being a second language English speaker myself, but I´m sure a little translation help/help understanding the English language could have made a major difference.

The instrumental part of the music is quite eclectic, and while there are atmospheric doom/death sections on the album, Dark Millennium are far from being a standard act in that genre. Some tracks are progressive in nature featuring adventurous song structures and odd musical ideas. The most obvious example is of course the 17:25 minutes long closing track "From a Thousand Years of Yore", but most tracks feature unconventional musical ideas. Take for example the funky guitars on "Dressed for Suicide", and you just know this is not your everyday doom/death metal album release.

"Midnight in the Void" features a powerful, detailed, and clear sounding production, which suits the material well, and upon conclusion "Midnight in the Void" is a welcome comeback for Dark Millennium. It´s an interesting release and features many great musical moments, but it´s not a perfect release, and there are less remarkable tracks and sections on the album too. At 70:21 minutes it´s also a bit too long for its own good, and my attention begins to wander at some points during the playing time. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is still deserved though and to the more musically adventurous listeners, they can probably add a half star to that rating.

UMUR "Diana Read Peace" is the 2nd full-length studio album by German progressive metal act Dark Millennium. The album was released through Massacre Records in 1993. Dark Millennium was formed in 1989 and disbanded in the mid-90s after releasing two demos and two full-length studio albums. They started out playing death metal with doomy sections and occasionally progressive structures, but "Diana Read Peace" doesn´t feature much which indicate that Dark Millennium just the year before released the death metal oriented debut full-length studio album "Ashore the Celestial Burden (1992)".

Instead we´re treated to an adventurous and occasionally gothic take on progressive metal with a few nods towards thrash and doom metal. The atmosphere is dark, melancholic, and at times even alien, as if the band have visited places other people don´t dare to, and have found inspiration in that. Some tracks are not as complex as others, but there are some very progressive structured tracks on the album. The best example os probably the 9:45 minutes long "Brotherhood Sleep... Back to Treasureland".

The musicianship are on a high level, even though lead vocalist Christian Mertens is probably an aquired taste. He sometimes sound a bit out of tune, and his vocal lines are not that memorable and generally not very melodic. He sounds a bit strained when he does his more raw vocal parts too, and considering how strong his growling vocals were on the debut album, it´s a bit of a mystery why he would chose to sing in a vocal style like this on "Diana Read Peace". Development is almost always a positive, but in this case it´s a step down the quality ladder.

"Diana Read Peace" is a relatively well produced album, and as mentioned especially the instrumental part of the music is very well delivered, but the adventurous songwriting is sometimes a bit too adventurous for it´s own good, and sometimes it feels like Dark Millennium had a thousand individual ideas for each track, and some parts and transitions between parts therefore come off as disjointed from the rest of the track.

So upon conclusion "Diana Read Peace" is an album that leaves me a bit biased as I hail the adventurous nature of the album and the high level musicianship, but at the same time I have some issues with the vocals, and with the core songwriting (the album is also a bit too long featuring a playing time that exceeds the hour mark). "Diana Read Peace" therefore ends up falling in the catagory of being more interesting than actually good, but I´d still say a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.