Dark Millennium

Dark Millennium was and still is a unique band. I don’t know any other band you can compare them with. The combination of progressive doom, death, black, thrash and the typical voice of Christian Mertens see to that. I am a huge fan of their first album Ashore the Celestial Burden (1992), the follow up Diana Read Peace (1993)  was a step too much for me and for a lot of other fans as well, the style change was too big I guess. That’s where I lost interest and so I didn’t pick up their come-back album Midnight in the Void (2016). 

The new record opens dark with a dragging tempo and as soon as Christian opens his mouth, I recognize the band. The next song ‘Lovers Die’ is softer and has some modern influences, in fact the style does remind me a bit of Morgoth in their Feel Sorry For the Fanatic period. ‘Insubstantial’ is a track that could have been on their debut album. It is impossible to describe the music, it is in fact a kind of combination of their first 2 albums and more. The strength of the album lies in the fact that every song is different, but that can also be their pitfall. You have to be rather open minded and a fan of several genres to really like such an album. But if you are, you will find a lot to enjoy, especially when you give the album some time to grow.

If you dig a combi of styles such as doom, death, black, thrash, and progressive, dark, tempo changes, jolty rhytmns and variation are things you like, this Where Oceans Collide can be your new favorite 2018 album. The unique voice of Christian together with their exquisite style does make this something extraordinary.