That was a really rough year that take me off since the second half of May, so there'll be just few small reviews. I don't even know if'll able to finish them, so this year the Interesting Picks will be incomplete. I just hope now to get well soon as i can.

Non Metalstrom Bands

Anakim: https://anakimuk.bandcamp.com/releases
D Aphelium: https://daphelium.bandcamp.com/
Darkenhöld: https://darkenhold.bandcamp.com/
Dystopia (NL): https://dystopianl.bandcamp.com/
Eoront: https://eoront.bandcamp.com/
Havukruunu: https://naturmachtproductions.bandcamp.com/.../kelle-surut-soi
Iapetus: https://iapetus1.bandcamp.com/
Mascharat: https://mascharat.bandcamp.com/
Pure Wrath: https://throatsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/ascetic-eventide
Skelethal: https://skelethal.bandcamp.com/
Rude: https://rudedeathmetal.bandcamp.com/
Vexovoid: https://vexovoid.bandcamp.com/
Weapönizer: http://listen.20buckspin.com/album/lawless-age


Interesting EPs

Samskarasmetal - Asunder https://samskarasmetal.bandcamp.com/album/asunder
Verwoed - Bodemloos https://verwoed.bandcamp.com/album/bodemloos (2016)
Stone Circle https://stonecirclemetal.bandcamp.com/album/a-forest-dark
Rotting Kingdom - Rotting Kingdom https://rottingkingdom.bandcamp.com/releases

Best Covers

Progenie Terrestre Pura - oltreLuna http://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0496691427_10.jpg
Bell Wicht - Mirror Reaper https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2573679411_10.jpg
Tchornobog - Tchornobog https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2682260650_10.jpg
Sycarian - Introspection https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0764535663_10.jpg
Rude - Remnants... https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3710759522_16.jpg
Skelethal - Of the Depths... https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2122998808_16.jpg
Dystopia - Chaos Philosophorum https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3216867467_10.jpg
Artificial Brain - Infrared Horizon https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3763874634_10.jpg
Vexevoid - Call Of The Starforger: https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2209586669_10.jpg
Ceptide - Saudade https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3117479489_10.jpg
When Bitter Spring Sleeps - Star?-?Thrown https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3768792221_10.jpg
Acrimonious - Eleven Dragons https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1889472482_10.jpg
Is - Into My Own https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1098666674_10.jpg
Celesterre - The Wild https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3199948483_10.jpg
Uerberos - Tormented By Faith https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0872666937_10.jpg
Hate Inclination - Disease Swept The Cosmos https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1638488411_10.jpg

Created by:

Rot Teufel | 01.01.2018

	1.	Blaze Of Perdition - Conscious Darkness Highly reccomanded.
	2.	Anakim - Monuments To Departed Worlds Great compositive quality and technique for this english technical death metal band with a new born Chirs Barnes at the vocals. By reading the short description of the band, everything highlights points described are full satisfied: dark, melodic, heavy, progressive and brutal. It's really hard hitting the attention from nowhere with a such strong debut album. Highly reccomanded.
	3.	Iapetus - The Long Road Home An ambitious album that mixed melodeath, progressive and some acuostic parts for over one hour and a quarter: a really long accomplished journey trought. The mastermind duo is skillful and creative: maybe not all parts blend perfectly, but this is their first album, it's self released and overall need a serious mention about for being one of the best debut albums of the year. And it's even digitally free!!! Despite beeing very long, it doesn't lack of variety all along its lenght. For sure it's a band to watch for the next release. Highly reccomanded.
	4.	Artificial Brain - Infrared Horizon Strongly brutal, dissonat, technical, well written in telling a future where artificial units wich had supplanted human life as his natural evolution are in searching of answers about their true origins, between old truth and new deny. It could be sound a bit ripetitive, expecially in the final parts, at first listen, because it's an album that need a second (or even more) listen to find in this dissonant heavy chaos the technical parts wich enlight and rise the quality level, in oder to catch the elegance of some melodic dissonances. Otherwise everything will seem without a logical structure. But those elegant dissonace, the imprevedibility of some changes, the right slow down parts work efficiently by adding a really claustrophofic, caotic and sad atmosphere, making those AI alive in our minds. Compared to their first release, it has a better post production. Highly reccomanded.
	5.	Below The Sun - Alien World And my Doom Metal discovery for this year is done. Highly reccomanded.
	6.	Progenie Terrestre Pura - OltreLuna Highly reccomanded.
	7.	Sun Of The Sleepless - To The Elements Another side project of Markus Stock that re wake up after 13 years. Strong point of album are lyrics, wich express well the emotions in the most deep wild nature. In a certain way it's that german romaticism wich i miss in the last Empyrium album. It certain rappresnt the crossorad between a modern black metal and some tradizionalims of the second wave. Higly Reccomanded.
	8.	Mascharat - Mascharat Another demostration that even Italy can say something in the underground. You can breathe fully the unhealthy air both from the riffs, wich spaces from the funeral doom and from the atmospheric black metal, and both from the texts, delivering good ideas to the project in order to differentiate it from the mass. I have found some stylistic similarities with the Blaze of Sorrow on this anonymous project, wich made a good debut album. Higly reccomaned.
	9.	Bezmir - Void Obviously not only satisfied after relasing Forestpath with his project Severoth, the omomimous arstit found another one, related to space themes, trough a dry, cold, immersive and ethereally sad black metal which captures the obscure spatial vastness, adding more atmospheric or industrial themes as needed. Reccomanded.
	10.	Temple Of Void - Lords Of Death Not much to say, but whatever they did good with the first album, has been implemented and improved in the right direction smoothing all the corners. Higly Reccomanded.
	11.	Eoront - Another Realm After a not great EP, here it comes the second work of this ex siberian one man band. On certain aspect could be better, but overall it's a step foward for an interesting future. Highly reccomaned.
	12.	Die Apokalyptischen Reiter - Der Rote Reiter Reccomanded.
	13.	Wormwood - Ghostlands - Wounds From A Bleeding Earth Even if deeply connected to the swedish black metal roots, Wormwood risk all on the emotional feelings on all 12 tracks, each one with its own mood (even if their construction is quite similar). Their melodic black metal often goes throught ambient, atmospheric, folk, acoustic, offering an accessive album. Another good spot in their favour were the ability to wrote well lyris both in swedish and english, often a big lack and loss for most of the bands. At this point i hope their ideas will be more squared and developed for the next release. Reccomanded.
	14.	Rude - Remnants... When it comes out in January, that was the only worth death metal album, without propose anything new, shows a solid old school performance and passion with some personality. Great cover too. Reccomanded.
	15.	Havukruunu - Kelle Surut Soi What a splendid omage to Bathory from this finnish duo. The mixture between Finnish Black Metal and the Scandinavian Second wave, even if not innovative, just just amazing.
	16.	Darkenhöld - Memoria Sylvarum Reccomanded
	17.	Eluveitie - Evocation II - Pantheon
	18.	Overkill - The Grinding Wheel Same old job for over 30 years of career and they're still doing great. Much better than White Devil Armory, but less than The Electric Age. The middle part it's the less interesting, but at least some songs have the same spark of The Eletric Age. I like too the lyrics side, much better than WDA, with an ispired Blizt at vocals. Groovy, engaging, solid, massive and coherent as always. Keep thrashing like this again, old masters. Reccomanded.
	19.	Nokturnal Mortum - Verity Musically i always loved this band since i disocover them, probably one of the best examples of Pagan/Folk Slavonic Black Metal. And after 8 years here comes totally unexpected this album: and after the strong "Holos Stali" expectations were really high. Overall i have prefererd the long songs, wich offers a much more variety on the songwriting. The perfomance is rich, eloquent, with a really cured folk parts, anyway its preculiar way of approaching things may like it or not: for me some moments are great as Holos Stali, but some others sound different and doesn't reach the true potential. Production is clear and defined, the whole ucrainan paganism is really well expressed, but we are far away from a second possible masterpiece after Holos Stali. Reccomanded.
	20.	Draugsól - Volaða Land The strong point of this album it's that sense of heaviness and obscurity tipical of icelandic bands. Nothing exceptional, but overall is solid and enjoyable mainly. Riffs hit hard or could be emotional and intriguing, with some death metal solutions, sometimes even technical. The bass section is instead really, really clean. The neo-folk insertions are just a simple interlude for the next blast storm. Some stylistic choises remember a bit Carpe Noctem, but mostly the Enslaved influence is heavier. There's some interesting potential in this project that needs, perhaps, to be blunt for the next release. Reccomanded.
	21.	Vexovoid - Call Of The Starforger A clone of Vektor: If you like them, well try Vexovoid too. Even if really similar, Vexovoid excels in being more direct and less bloated. There's no space for the progressive and there's only the technical part. Partially it's a shame that last year comes out Terminal Redux, 'cause it might obscure this realease. With a more personal approach like in some songs riff they might be noticed for the future. Reccomanded.
	22.	Air Raid - Across The Line Heavy ain't dead. After a lame second album the next line up change made again them worthy. Reccomaned.
	23.	Blaze Of Sorrow - Astri
	24.	Severoth - Forestpaths If you like atmospheric black metal, the wild nature and solitude that's the right album for you. A proper soundtrack while wandering in the woods. Even if stick with the canon of ABM, the prominent repetitiveness, the angish eco vocals, the mid tempo drums comes packed with interesting riffs and keyboard tunes that add a dark and mysterious atmosphere all long. Reccomanded.
	25.	Skelethal - Of The Depths...
	26.	Dystopia (NL) - Chaos Philosophorum I haven't listened their first work (wich seems a disaster for many people), but here seems that everything has changed in a new good direction. If you like long articolated songs with more than 10 minutes, wich spaces from progressive to atmoshperic black metal, with some interludes between each song, that's an album that deserved to be listene. Reccomanded.
	27.	Ingurgitating Oblivion - Vision Wallows In Symphonies Of Light From what i see, this is a band you hate or love, wich seems has finally found its way on third album. At the moment i have listened just their last work, so no comparison, but i must admit it's an interesting example of death metal in a continuous succession of strong dissonances with some avant-gard inserctions, with a strong Deathspell Omega and Ulcerate flavour. The dark atmospherics part are the opening and closing choise, meanwhile some intriguin jazz intersections break the predominant dissonances. Fur sure a challenging release, wich turns the album unique, but not accessible to all.
	28.	Noumena - Myrrys
	29.	Weapönizer - Lawless Age
	30.	Emyn Muil - Elenion Ancalima A good omage to the old Summoning (expecially Stronghold and Oath Bound). Compared to first album, the whole production is more clean and gives a more solemn tone, but without loosing its underground atmosphere. Maybe in the future this project will be able to rise from the well know austrian duo and his way. Reccomanded for all Atmospheric Black Metal fans.
	31.	D Aphelium - Sprungen Ur Lust A classic example of swedish black metal. Well done in its rawness, wich well express nature lyrics of this debut album. Give it some spins, you won't regret.
	32.	Pure Wrath - Ascetic Eventide
	33.	King Of Asgard - :taudr: