I know that nobody reads long posts anymore, but I can’t become a person who I’m not: I am simply unable to put a text together out of five concise sentences. So, please bear with me – my usual long annual summary post will follow.

2023 has been a wild ride to me. I managed to release Thanatology, my third full-lenght album (regardless that Spotify notoriously keeps calling it an EP…). Believe me, I poured all my heart and soul – and also a huge amount of time, practice and effort – into it. I know that I’m some kind of a perfectionist – and perfectionism is often considered to be a two-edged sword. Besides composing, recording and programming all the tracks, I spent countless hours with learning how to mix and master a decent metal album. Not gonna lie, the result turned out much better than I expected – Thanatology sounds clearer and more natural compared to the first two releases. Still, there is always a place for further imporvements (says the perfectionist…) – so I decided to remix all my releases before re-issuing them on physical CDs in the near future. This is the most important activity that keeps me busy these days. So please keep an eye on this website and/or my socials if you’re interested in getting physical Darkwave goodies (CDs and – hopefully – some merch, too).

Thanatology received extremely good feedback: it was favorably reviewed not only by people who listened to it, but also by metal webzines – metalhasnoborders.com even listed it among the best albums of August, 2023! (Just a side note: to tell the truth, this was absolutely unexpected to me! My focus has always been on creating something meaningful and to connect with people who resonate with my musical experimentation. Therefore, the possibility of being mentioned together with important players of the modern metal scene never occured to me. To see Darkwave on the same page with Crypta, Angra or Brujeria is really an amazing honor!). Right now, Thanatology is on the third place in a poll at metalhasnoborders.com for the best metal release of 2023 (the final results will be announced in early January) – who could have imagined such an enormous success a couple of months ago? I certainly didn’t, that’s for sure.

To cut a long story short, it seems that Darkwave finally stepped through the shadow line, if you know what I mean. I could continue writing about the main events of 2023 for hours, but the release and favorable reception of my beloved Thanatology fills my thoughts with pride, joy and thankfulness. I – of course – have plans that will provide me enough work for at least a decade, but I already summarized them elsewhere. Therefore, let me finish this lenghty annual summary post with a word of gratitude. Darkwave is surrounded by the love and support of a circle of good friends and supporters, and I am extremely grateful for each and every one of you for being here and encouraging me! A musician without listeners would be nothing more than a bizarre manifestation of a dead end.

Thank you for being with me in 2023! I just have one simple request: please never forget about me! 2024 will be another fascinating year for Darkwave, and I can’t wait to see, what the future holds for us!