1) There were many good records in 2018, I have not just one in mind but if I had to choose, Get Well Soon "The Horror", followed by the new albums by The Actors, Kill Shelter , Traitrs.

2) It was a different year for me, I didn’t saw many concerts, as I was many months producing the new album of IAMTHESHADOW, The Dream Collision, Rainy Days Factory, and playing live, our mini tour in France and Belgium, etc... 

3) And what about the worst (musical) disappointments this year? The new album of Dead Can Dance, Dionysos was for me a big disappointment, of course this is my personal view.

4) The new double album of The Dream Collision, and the new album of Rainy Days Factory, rise my expectations very high, like the new concerts of IAMTHESHADOW, a tour in Spain and Germany and the possibility of a tour in Latin America. The Re Editon of IAMTHESHADOW`s first album “Everything in this Nothingness”, by Twilight Records, and the edition in Cd of “Al our Demons” with 3 extra new songs, by North Shadow Records. There is a new project I will participate this year, that I can`t talk much about yet, that I believe will be very surprising and very good, given the quality of the songs envolved.

BABIS NIKOU (Angel’s Arcana):

1) There are very few bands that stay with you for life and therefore every new release is always of great importance. I don‘t know if it is the most interesting album of 2018, but surely the one i played the most has to be „Dionysus“ by Dead Can Dance. This magical duo always delivers some of the highest quality music of our time.

2) This will definately have to be Stereo Nova‘s reunion show. Electonic music pioneers that had a huge impact on the greek music scene during the 90s. Watching them performing live 20 years after they disbanded was a truly unforgettable experience.

3) I can only be thankful to the musicians i love. Even if their latest works didn‘t appeal to me, disappoinment wouldn‘t be the word i would use. Either they are at a point of approaching art in a way that i don‘t undertsand, or ran out of inspiration which is totally human.

4) To dive deeper.

PETER CHUDÍK (580 Miles)

1) I get to all the new stuff quite late, thus I will mention The Frozen Autumn and their last album "The Fellow Traveler", indeed a pleasure to listen to. If I should really choose only from 2018, I would say Project Pitchfork with their "Akkretion", then from those I’ve listened to, I will mention Kirlian Camera on the album "Hologram Moon", "Violence" by Editors, Gary Numan‘s "Savage (Songs from a broken world)". Further, Daniel Peberton‘s "One Strange Rock", "The Punisher original soundtrack"  by Tyler Bytes and from both sides of the river Morava, I really liked Projekt203 with their album "Vírus“...  Bára Basiková and her„Slzy“ is a delight to my ears and Moimir Papalescu with his always lively band „Die Alten Maschinen“ released several new tracks from their currently planned album "New Motors".

2) I attended only one event which was Synthfest Slovakia 2018... was the show successful? Well, I leave the evaluation up to the organizers. As for me, I had fun...

3) Nothing to answer.

4) To finish in good health the long-playing debut with project 580 Miles.

ASH

1) This year, I was slacking off a bit, and therefore I didn’t discover a lot of new albums. Of course, I was pleased by Chris Corner and new release "Alive In New Light" by IAMX, Grausame Töchter and their "Engel im Rausch" got me dancing as well, I liked also the new work by Kaelan Mikla or The Soft Moon. I was nicely surprised by "The Spiral Sacrifice" by Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows. I also appreciate the work of label Parlophone that supplies us regularly with the live shows of Davida Bowieho, this year it was a concert from 1987 and the legendary performance at the festival Glastonbury in 2000, I played those a lot of times. However, I promise that this year, I will catch up and I will listen to more stuff!

2) I enjoyed IAMX and the dream come true was for me the concert of Michale Graves in Ostrava. This was kind of a little return back in time.

3) The end of Dark Wave on Radio Wave, Thursday evenings are for me still quite empty.

4) I’m looking forward to the already announced concerts, I hope for a new album by Nick Cave and the promised new release by The Cure. Further, I let it be a surprise.

IAMX - Mile Deep Hollow

EZECHIEL

1) For me, it was Gary Numan‘s "Savage", The Exploding Boy‘s "Alarms!", "Amor/Noir" by Strvngers, Rabia Sorda‘s "The World Ends Today" and "The Spiral Sacrifice" by Sopor Aeternus. From beyond our scene it was A Perfect Circle‘s "Eat The Elephant".

2) Foremostly it was Gary Numan's gig at Lucerna, truly ubelievable. I think Prague Gothic Treffen was a blast again, the last Batsave party with Fangs on Fur was awesome, I really enjoyed The Exploding Boy, Nine Inch Nails at Aerodrom, The Spiritual Bat were cool... what a nice year!

3) The end of the Dark Wave show on Radio Wave, it hit me quite a lot. And that I didn't have time to dive into more records last year. But purely music-wise...  no dissapointment really. Maybe I expected too much from the new Sonoio.

4) Prague Gothic Treffen, Wave Gotik Treffen, and all our parties and gigs. I am looking forward to hearing the new stuff both from the artists I like and from the bands I have no idea they exist yet. And especially, I hope to hear some new fresh and awesome material from Czech and Slovak Caves!

DEMI

1) Traitrs‘s "Butcher´s Coin", Junksista‘s "Promiscuous Tendencies", The Exploding Boy‘s "Alarms!", Varsovie‘s "Coups et Blessures" and Geometric Vision‘s "Fire! Fire! Fire!" After a few cool singles, Actors came with the brilliant record "It Will Come to You." Ghostland‘s "Dances on Walls", "The Hearth" by Creus Lies, Buzz Kull‘s "New Kind of Cross" and "Presence" by Future Lied to Us were a pleasant surprise for me, too. And Grausame Töchter are back in the game with "Engel im Rausch".

2) My unambiguously strongest experience was Claudio Simonetti's Goblin at the Brutal Assaultu festival. My dream came true. Ministry played an exquisite set there, too. Shows of Suicide Commando, IAMX and Batsave parties with Totenwald and Fangs on Fur were cool as well.

3) The death of my platonic love Dolores O´Riordan.

4) Like every year, I like to be suprised. But I would love to see a special "Suspiria" set of Goblin.

Claudio Simonetti´s Goblin at Brutal Assault

NEPHILIM

1) Debut Actors "It Will Come To You" is a hell of an album, for me the best one of the last year's harvest. Creux Lies ("The Hearth"), Whispering Sons ("Image"), Coma Alliance ("Weapon of Choice"), Future Lied To Us ("Presence") or Funker Vogt ("Wastelands") released very good records, too. 

2) The gig of Arcana in Wachau, Leipzig was a strongly emotional experience for me. Unexpectedly cool was a show of Confrontational in Stadtbad and on the other hand, traditionally great were The Eden House in Agra (all at the Wave Gotik Treffen). Furthermore, I've experienced a frenetic euphoria at the Apoptygma Berzerk set at Castle Party, my teenager soul was pleased by a czechoslovakian pogo party during The Last Days of Jesus show at the same place. Non-aging Gary Numan at Lucerna Music bar showed us an awesome gig, the same could be said about the amotic energy of Die Krupps live. But only one can be a winner and for me (with a great lead), it was the acoustic show of Anneke van Giersbergen in Schauspielhaus, WGT.

3) Again – no new records from The Sisters of Mercy or Fields of the Nephilim, All Gone Dead at the WGT were lousy. I miss Dark Wave show on Radio Wave very much, the death of Gary Chain hit me quite hard. RIP, my friend!

4) Above all are all Sanctuary activities planned for 2019. I expect a lot from this year's Prague Gothic Treffen. I am looking forward to the Dead Can Dance gig, I will definitely go to my favourite festivals and get myself excited by some new band. Surprise me, world of music!

PAVEL ZELINKA

1) First of all, I have to admit that this year, I was attracted more to the postpunk/gothic music than electronic, EBM or industrial. But there are exceptions of course.  One is the second Cocksure album called "Be Rich". The second is the one-man project from Leipzig Blac Kolor, named "Awakening". And here is my guitar highlights: Whispering Sons "Image", Lycia "In Flickers", The Exploding Boy "Alarms" and The KVB "Only Now Forever". Finally, I'm putting on a great new album of The Current 93 "The Light Leaving Us All".

2) A great portion of powerful experiences brought to me the attendance at Wave Gotik Treffen. Mostly, I liked the concerts of The Eden House, Rosa Crvx, The Chameleon Vox or Bootblacks (I will come back to this later. But the other shows were not bad either. You can find more in the reports on our webpages. I was very much entertained by 'Snog v Underdogs' that was able to connect the cabaret with solid electro, a surprise was a pressure set of Funker Vogt in Rock Café. I didn’t expect that. The doubts about the form were swept away after a while also by John Lydon and his Public Image Ltd. However, the highlight of „domestic“ concerts was the whirlwind show of Garyho Numana. Even stronger than the year before in Bratislava. And that’s really something!

3) I miss some new records by the Czech and Slovak bands. I was so impressed by the strong constellation of tracks on „Dark Tunes“ compilation that I expected some of the participating bands to be encouraged to produce even more stuff. But I suppose the mistake is also on our side or maybe, we could see the outcomes of their work this year. Shyness aside, we in CZS are waiting for your work!  I was also saddened by the end of Dark Wave on Radio Wave. I hope we will manage to start another worthy radio show this year. And further, I regret how many awesome shows I missed. Recently, it was Irfan, Adult., Traitrs, Pharmakon, Cold Cave, William Basinski + Tomasz Bednarczyk, Soviet Soviet and a bunch of others. Oh well.

4) What I am looking forward to? The list of upcoming concerts is starting to look pretty interesting. WGT of course. Even this alone is a reason to be excited about the future. And also about the music which will surely result in interesting records I will remember next year.
 

SAMGARR

1) Actors "It Will Come To You", Whispering Sons ("Image"), "Fault Line EP"by October Burns Black – very gothic rock, much dark, I am curious about the new LP, Povodí Ohře‘s "s/t", because "jdes kolem hrbitovu / kde uz se nepohrbiva", "Into the All" by Zanias, James Cole‘s "STANLEY KUFFENHEIM", Gary Numan‘s "Savage", Tragedy‘s "Fury EP" – still the same hatred, still the most punk band of all, Buzz Kull‘s "New Kind Of Cross", House Of Harm‘s "s/t", because there are never enough guitar echoes or The Cure worshipping.

2) Of course all Batsave parties, especially the ones with Fangs On Fur or Totenwald. Good and little bit sad at the same time was the farewell gig of Gride at 007. And Numan at Lucerna was a blast, too.

3) Everything was beautiful and sunny.

4) Everything will be beautiful and sunny.

SUDLICE

1) Your Life On Hold‘s „my name is legion for we are many“, October Burns Black‘s EP „fault line“, remix album „Perspectives“ by Antipole, Master‘s Hammer‘s „Fascinator“, Architect‘s EP „Deconvolution“, „Trench“ by Twenty One Pilots, Whispers In The Shadow‘s „Urgency Of Now“, track „Jelly Dream“ from the album „Fire! Fire! Fire!“ by Geometric Vision, track „Alone“ from the album „Image“ by Whispering Sons are all the releases which were able to keep my attention during last year. However, my absolute highlights of 2018 are „Andromeda Skyline“ by Swedish duo ISON, „Embracing The Fall“ by Iamtheshadow, eponymous album by dark ambient poetic project „Wundkokon“, long time awaited record „Seventh Circle“ by Melanculia, album „Selva“ by goth rock newcomer Angel’s Arcana, and finally, an atmospheric shot to the meteorite „Aether“ by Aeon Sable. In my ears, it‘s record of the year! Since times of Neph’s „Mourning Sun“, this is the album I can live.

2) I’m glad I had a chance to see She Pleasures HerSelf in Prague and finally,after so many years, also a club concert of my long time beloved death metal virtuosos band Nile. I traveled to their gig to marvelous steel city of Ostrava and spend there a truly amazing day full of exploration.

3) It's been nearly a year since we've lost our one and only Czech regular radio show Dark Wave. Now, a platform which would focus on dark alternative scene is missing greatly.

4) Looking forward to new releases by She Pleasures HerSelf, OAK, The 69 Eyes…. and you know what? I love surprises ,so just go ahead and surprise me! And from my own side? Yes, as always – a full support for all who can make me happy through their music.  

And what was the album/gig of the last year for you? Share your thoughts with us here in the comments!