Well, that was 2018, a year with megatons of music, mind bending concerts and sick shit all over this little planet of ours. In that aspect, it was pretty much like 2017 and 2016 and 2015. Awful pop music, awesome underground sounds. Heaps of countries in crisis, awesome underground sounds. Shattered dreams and beliefs, awesome underground music. You get the picture. Anyway, some of our writers have actually gone through the trouble of compiling their "best of 2018" and I'd be glad to share these with you.

OTTONE PESANTE – Apocalips
RAPOON - Offworld OP1 Equs
AMBIENT NATION 5 - Various
DRUHA SMRT - Egocedeum
JETON HOXA - Vowel
KARIBU ORCHESTRA – Music Over The Ruins
SEAR BLISS – Letters From The Edge
NO ONE & ASHTORETH – Redemption
THY CATAFALQUE – Geometria
DIMMU BORGIR – Eonian

I suck at making end of the year lists. Half of the time i can't even remember what i listened to and/or what I've watched. That said, i'm pretty confident that all of this came out in 2018. so i deem this the best of 2018:

ears:

joint 1st place:

Unreqvited - Stars Wept to the Sea 
Unreqvited - Mosaic I: L'amour Et L'ardeur

runners up:

Blanck Mass - Odd scene / Shit luck
Book of Sand - Postmodern Witchcraft 
W O L F C L U B - Infinity

eyes:

1st place: 

Summer of '84

runners up:

Ant Man and The Wasp
Avengers Infinity War
Black Panther
A Quiet Place
Mission Impossible: Fallout

pretty sure i forgot loads. 


sucked the hardest in 2018: saying goodbye to Jef, our french bulldog. r.i.p.

filled my pitch black heart with endless joy in 2018: welcoming Jos, a miniature pincher and Leonie, a french bulldog, in our lives. as well as Mitzi and Ulrich, yet more cats.

be safe and well, dear MOA readers. hopefully more from me in 2019.


be kind to animals. love.

The year is drawing to an end, and it’s time to look back upon my life. No, scratch that, let’s just look back on some good music from 2018.
Year end’s lists are by definition very personal, so I’m not claiming these are the best records of 2018. They just made an impression on me that lasted longer than a few spins – on some cases, a lot longer. Enjoy!

-Wolvennest – Void

If their self-titled debut felt like a kick in the nuts, “Void” feels like Sharon Shazzula is driving one of her high heels up my nose, right into my corpus callosum. Krautrockers from Brussels, Great atmosphere, great live act. My favourite record of 2018. Unreal…

-Paara – Riiti

Fantastic riffs, majestic melodies and brilliant vocals (both clean and shrieking). On “Riiti”, these Finns created a moody mix of black and post metal, delivered in their supremely juicy mother tongue. This record shows that solid songwriting skills still is the most important aspect of any good release.

-Crow Black Sky - Sidereal Light: Volume One

Atmospheric black metal from South Africa, of all places! Too often, Atmospheric BM is stereotypical (they should start their own #metoo movement). Crow Black Sky, however, mamages to avoid this, and somehow sound very honest to me. If you liked Woods of Desolation, you’ll love this.

-Bliss Signal – Bliss Signal

About fifteen ago, I started to drift towards Black Metal, simply because it is a genre that is very open towards experimentation. A very good example of this is Bliss Signal’s debut album, where pummeling electro beats and dense layers of guitars/noise conjure a magical atmosphere.

-Empty – Vacio

Based on the book “La Lluvia Amarilla” (Yellow rain), these Spaniards deliver a gripping ode to solitude and a dying way of life in the Spanish mountains. Filled to the brim with original riffing, this record hit me on an emotional level like no other this year.

-Adaestuo – Krew za Krew

An electrifying mix of black metal and ritual ambient, and, as a cherry on the cake, the incredible voice of Hekte Zaren. Praise the Lord of Darkness! Boy, am I looking forward to seeing them playing live in Brussels in a couple of months.

-Gaerea – Unsettling Whispers

A couple of weeks ago, I saw Gaerea playing live in a freezing cold venue in Leuven, Belgium. Barely 50 people braved the harsh conditions to see these Portuguese guys perform the songs of their first record. Shame on you, Belgians! “Unsettling Whispers”, being a highly original and intelligent BDM record, really deserves more praise!

Mare – Ebony Tower

This is what Black Metal is all about, in the end: an enigmatic band that lets the music speak for itself. And what music! Glorious riffs, ritual chants, catchy songs. Halleluiah for the Horned one!

Man, my musical memory can't be bigger than a square micrometer of brain tissue - I guess it's just full. It can take me several weeks to learn the names of bands or albums that I really, really, really love by heart. So here's an apology to all of those bands whose albums were being reviewed by Serge while I was doing other things and of which I thought: I NEED to remember this one! Here's a new year's resolution: I'll write you down... :-)

Here's my lists that the external memory named Serge helped me remember. Not in any particular order. 

CHVE (Dunk! Festival)
Zion Train (Het Bos)
Illuminine (Dunk! Festival)
Ashtoreth (Het Bos)
The Nutcracker performed by De Filharmonie and conducted by James Tuggle (Stadsschouwburg Antwerp) - I'm not really a dance lover but musically it kicked ass