Century Media once again takes us back to the good old 90s and make some treasures available again and grant attention to bands, which might be forgotten nowadays. Short-lived DARK MILLENNIUM is such a band, which definitely deserves some more attention even over 20 years after they have disbanded. As Century Media will re-release both albums and the demos and all will be reviewed by us, I keep my words about their role in the German scene short. But apart from MORGOTH, DARK MILLENNIUM were the hopefuls of the German Death Metal scene during its peak season between 1991 and 1993 and were definitely outstanding considering the quality of their material and their quick development within such a short time. I have the honor to review their most difficult album. Difficult yes, as “Diana Read Peace” is not an album you can just easily listen to while doing other things. This piece requests full attention of the listener and also if you are not a fan already, some patience and time and several spins, until its beauty and perfection shows up. “Diana Read Peace” is a visionary album. Its roots go back to classic Doom / Death Metal but this is only the fundament for the album. The band added experimental and progressive sounds to their classic sound and nowadays I think it could be described as a mixture of older ANATHEMA and ATHEIST during their “Elements” period. Crazy, but I think this might be a good hint, even though it is difficult to compare their style to any other bands as this band and their style deserves to be described as unique. What also made a huge difference were the vocals of Christian Mertens, which I think either can be loved or hated. Technically he might not have been the most skilled vocalist when it comes to sing harmonies or melodic phrases but the intensity he had and the feelings he transported with his voice surely can be called outstanding. The development the band has gone through can also be compared to mighty PESTILENCE, as their traces also can be found in DARK MILLENNIUM’s sound. The problem was, that their development happened too quick and was difficult to follow for some fans and also in the year 1993, classic old school Death Metal was the big thing and these talented guys were simply far ahead of the time and delivered this masterpiece simply too early to receive the credits and attention they have deserved. The talent of the musicians and their nearly perfect musical and songwriting abilities as well as production and cover artwork were not to blame for the missing success. Digging in the past, Century Media grants their masterpieces the formats, a fan always dreamed of. The CD version comes up in digipak format and the vinyl version in 180 gram colored vinyl, limited to 100 copies or in black vinyl limitation unknown. Also two unreleased bonus tracks from the recording session for this album have been added and the fine original artwork has been scanned once again from the original paintings for best possible quality and all material has been re-mastered from the original sources. Fans of the band who want one of the new formats as well as curious people who missed the band back in the days should check the three re-releases out. For more info, please use the following sources: www.facebook.com/dark-millennium-official-121119711312446, www.centurymedia.com