ACID RIVER

"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).

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)