OF SPECTRE THEIR ASHES MAY BE

"Of Spectre Their Ashes May Be" is the 2nd demo release by German death metal act Dark Millennium. The demo was independently released on cassette tape in March 1992. Dark Millennium was formed in 1989 and disbanded in the mid-90s after releasing two demos and two full-length studio albums. Quite a few lineup changes have taken place since the release of "The Apocryphal Wisdom (1991)" as Torsten Gilsbach has replaced original lead vocalist Christian Mertens, bassist Markus Gabriel has been replaced by Jörg Dinstühler, and finally Michael Burmann has been added to the lineup as the band´s second guitarist. So only drummer Christoph Hesse and guitarist Hilton Theissen remain from the original lineup. Christian Mertens would however return to the fold later in the year for the recording of the band´s debut album "Ashore the Celestial Burden (1992)".

The many lineup changes haven´t affected the music too much though. It´s slightly more doomy than the case was on "The Apocryphal Wisdom (1991)" and the vocals are more deeper growling, but the infectious aggression and relatively technical and adventurous approach to playing old school death metal is still intact. The sound production is raw and brutal and initially I felt the quality of the recording had dropped a bit since "The Apocryphal Wisdom (1991)", which featured a near semi- professional sound production, but upon repeated listens I realise this more raw sound production suits the music perfectly.

In addition to the high quality songwriting featured on the demo, the musicianship is a great asset too. Drummer Christoph Hesse again stands out as a rather different extreme metal drummer with a subtle drumming style and new lead vocalist Torsten Gilsbach proves to be a great replacement for Christian Mertens (although his tenure would be brief).

Dark Millennium were an ever changing act in their relatively short existence, but "Of Spectre Their Ashes May Be" pretty much stay in the same territory as "The Apocryphal Wisdom (1991)", although it´s overall a bit harsher. Quality wise it´s not as such a step up from "The Apocryphal Wisdom (1991)", but it´s definitely equal in quality and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.