Millennium is a heavy metal band from the UK formed by vocalist Mark Duffy during the mid-eighties NWOBHM explosion. The band released their self titled debut album in 1984, splitting up before the decade was out. Fast forward thirty years, a reunion at 2016’s Brofest, Newcastle (UK), and a new album ‘Awakening’ in 2017. This was followed by the band’s third album, ‘A New World’ in 2019, and the fourth album, ‘The Sign Of Evil’, released in 2023.
Millennium is unashamedly a British band, delivering British heavy metal as it is recognised the world over. The band’s new album is ten songs and fifty minutes of highly head bang-able heavy metal, showcasing a huge nod to the genre’s formative years during the eighties. Yet Millennium is not just a retro band – hell no! They are here to deliver the goods! And deliver they do! Exploding into life, ‘The Sign Of Evil’ is quickly into its stride with the opening gambit ‘There Is A Devil’, a blazing guitar riff moving swiftly into a fabulous “foot on the monitor” gallop. The band are cruising, creating a sea of clenched fists held high and heads nodding back and forth! Traditional metallers everywhere are gonna love this one…
…along with the rest of the album too. Millennium are a traditional metal band, delivering an old school flavour that is both infectious and melodic – ‘Virus’ picking up the thunder and hitting harder than ‘There Is A Devil’. And if you’re not headbanging to this one, you’re probably deaf. Or dead! The head bang ability is incredible, the band wrecking necks like it’s going out of fashion – so make sure you warm up properly, ’cause I’m sure Millennium don’t want any “neck damage” lawsuits! The pace increases for ‘Hell Is My Home’, thundering with energy and savage intent, continuing to bang heads hard! The band are more than cruising now, striding majestically with authority and aplomb, crushing everything in sight. A simply stunning triple to open your new album, the band moves swiftly on with the more mid-tempo, mid-paced title song ‘The Sign Of Evil’, planting one foot firmly on the monitor and rooting the other bang smack in the middle of the heavy metal genre! The intensity so far has been incredible, Millennium not allowing any listener, fan or follower any time to breathe.
And at over seven minutes in length, ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ is the longest song on offer, featuring a short tension-filled intro before all fucking hell breaks loose! ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ emphatically roaring into life, storming off at full tilt, the band forging a devastating path across the land. Dropping a gear as it progresses, ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ turns into a majestic march of incredible melodious intent, the band holding their collective heads very high indeed! And without allowing the intensity level to drop, the album surges on with the anthemic thumper ‘Hell On Earth’ – a mighty mid-tempo aura taking over the airways and battering the listener. In a good way of course! ‘Hell On Earth’ has just a little hint of doom-laden savagery, primarily focusing on the more melodic side of heavy metal. And oof, the iconic sound of the buzzing guitar tone so synonymous with the legendary NWOBHM rises high in the air as ‘No Redemption’ gets underway – the band bringing to the modern day a sound first created more than forty years ago. Shit, that must mean I’m also from over forty years ago! Yeah right! And the rest!
The iconic gallop as pioneered by legends Iron Maiden, leads the way as ‘Fall From Grace’ races out of the blocks, weaving a path through the heavy metal genre. Millennium is relentless in its pursuit of the immediately recognisable traditional heavy metal sound, with every song heard so far portraying the iconic sound perfectly. And with only two songs left to go, the band have done a superb job – ‘Nightmares’ the heaviest song heard so far, yet losing nothing of the phenomenal old school flavour! This really is an album for the metal traditionalists – whether they be old, young or new! I fall into the old category, remembering the early eighties as though it was only yesterday when the debut albums from the likes of Angel Witch, Iron Maiden and Venom took my breath away! A feeling I’m also getting listening to Millennium‘s fourth album – the band bringing ‘The Sign Of Evil’ (the album) to a close in a blaze of thunder with the crunch and punch of ‘March Of The Damned’. Hitting like a sledgehammer in a concrete smashing face off with a jackhammer, ‘March Of The Damned’ rounds the album off perfectly. A highly recommended album for fans of old-school heavy metal.
Overall, a sparkling album of traditional heavy metal, immensely infectious and one hundred percent head bang-able.
TRACKLIST
There Is A Devil
Virus
Hell Is My Home
The Sign Of Evil
Thy Kingdom Come
Hell On Earth
No Redemption
Fall From Grace
Nightmares
March Of The Damned
Millennium: Facebook
Release Year: 2023
Label: No Remorse Records
Category: Album
Country: UK
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire and Metal-Roos.
