Dark Music Awards 2016 - Results!!!

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Written by Tomaz

Terra Relicta Dark Music Awards 2016 - The Final Round!

The Terra Relicta' annual competition for best dark music album of the year is over! This was already our fifth edition of TERRA RELICTA DARK MUSIC AWARDS!!! A big Thank You to all who voted for your favorite bands/albums and made this competition so popular! Also a big thank you to all bands who promoted the Awards in many possible ways! As you know we started everything with the Preliminary Round. There were 9 groups with 7 albums in each, plus the "write in vote" group, so in the end we had 63 + 43 nominees, in total 106 albums. From each group two albums with biggest amount of votes made it into the big finals. In the final round all of you had a chance to vote for two different albums out of 20 finalists, and the result is:

The title of Dark Album Of The Year 2016 goes to:
THE MISSION - Another Fall From Grace

Congratulations also to AEON SABLE and their amazing album Hypaerion for second place and SWEET ERMENGARDE who with  their album Ex Oblivione reached the third position!!! The battle for the throne was really harsh until the last few days. And as well congratulations to all other bands who made it into the finals and fought really well. The results are listed below.

Check out also the results from each preliminary group over HERE.

jVoteSystem developed and designed by www.joomess.de.

Total amount of votes: 1936

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Aeon Sable - Hypaerion

After four creations packed in black, the German most transcendental and genre bending dark rock masters Aeon Sable decided to make white as the new black! Aeon Sable once again only testify what lovers of dark music already knew, that they are maybe the most creative and credible force of the genre out there. Aeon Sable are bringers of a new era, this isn't anymore the third wave of gothic rock, this is something completely new, this is Hypaerion! LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

Alcest - Kodama

If the band exlored almost every possible element of atmospheric metal and rock, going deep into dreamy pop gaze and before that seeking the evil essence in the most ambiental side of black metal, now everything is staggering, perfectly put together into this musical amalgam of stylistic maximalism. Rare are bands and artists out there that can keep their sound throughout the years so very unique and appealing, yet magical, serene, somehow nostalgic and above all mesmerizing, Alcest are most certainly one of them. LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

Apocryphos - Stone Speak

Coming off the massive success of his last two releases, Kozletsky returns now in mid 2016 with his greatest solo achievement to date, Stone Speak. Boasting the cover art and mastering skills of Simon Heath, along with the recognition associated with the mind-blowing rise of Cyro Chamber's popularity since its inception only several years back, Kozletsky is poised to come into his own now as a true veteran of the scene, making up in quality for what he lacks in years' experience. LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

Apoptygma Berzerk - Exit Popularity Contest

The chameleons of electronic music once again reinvented themselves. On Exit Popularity Contest founder Stephan Groth distils the essence of carefully selected pioneers of electronic music (Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, OMD Vangelis and Klaus Schulze) to construct a classic yet refreshingly contemporary sound. Exit Popularity Contest demonstrates an admirable musical purity and sincerity, channeling the best of the past to forge a path into the future. LINK / LISTEN

Devilment - II-The Mephisto Waltzes

Devilment is back even stronger and with more intriguing album than it was the predecessor. If someone thought that Devilment is just one time thing when they released the first album, and kind of a side project by Dani Filth of notorious Cradle Of Filth, he/she was very wrong. Devilment became with this album a wholly distinctive unholy force, with an intuitive understanding of the value of shattering every mirror and stepping through into an alternate dimension where rulebooks smoulder and hell’s gates are thrown open. LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

Heavenwood - The Tarot Of The Bohemians - Part 1

Heavenwood must be proud of this creation, it's absolutely one of the best dark metal albums in 2016 and a strong contender for best album of the year. The Tarot Of The Bohemians – Part 1 is a proper example of well crafted extreme/dark/gothic metal! The sound is very rich, it's difficult to talk about gothic metal here as Heavenwood brings forward many extreme elements, sometimes on the very edge of black metal and melodeath, but also doom, symphonic, progressive, dark, while keeping it very melodic and highly atmospheric. LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

In The Woods... - Pure

One of the most prestigious and mythical acts coming from Nordic lands, In The Woods..., is back! In The Woods... brings magic, once again they created a sonically provoking album of epic proportions which resonates maybe more than any other album released recently. The band has evolved, matured, the unit revelling in the pleasures of restraint. The mind-chaos of youth has transmogrified into the dark divinity of wisdom that only experience can bring - a welcome respite in times of ephemeral pleasures and hyperactive multiplicities. LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

Katatonia - The Fall Of Hearts

The undisputable masters of melancholic rock/metal are back with their tenth studio album, but this time with a little twist. The Fall Of Hearts is an album that is pushing the musical boundaries beyond anything acceptable in metal music. The Fall Of Hearts is also one of those album that should be heard as an entirety, it might be a difficult listen though, but if you are just a bit of a sonic adventurer you might discover many hidden elements that slowly unveil to the devoted listener. Nothing but another masterpiece by Katatonia! LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

Merciful Nuns - Thelema VIII

The new offering of Merciful Nuns is nothing but a masterpiece. Not so many times an album with its unrelenting pathos has the power to make your heart and also the bones tremble. Thelema VIII is a sonic journey through radiant dimensions of mind, into all things occult, it's some kind of a cinematic dark goth/ambient/rock adventure with a constant dreary presence that awakens the inner dark thoughts of the listener. LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

Mist Of Misery - Absence

If Mist Of Misery were initially sounding like a good but average dsbm band, now the thing is much different, and their new full-lenght Absence is without any doubt one of the best symphonic/atmospheric black metal releases you'll have a chance to listen lately. Absence is a highly accessible album, it's captivating, very cinematic with huge atmospheric sound. It's dramatic, melancholic, yet very obscure, it offers beauty and contrary to that it's somehow evil. LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

NU:N - Naked Until Noema

Portuguese trio NU:N returns in such a great style with their sophomore full-lenght. Naked Until Noema has everything necessary to become a classic album inside the genre, it has that most needed magical pathos that grabs the listener with its claws and it doesn't let you go. It's hypnotic in its obscurity and gloomness, it's catchy enough, it evokes sensational melancholic feelings and by sliding between suspenseful warm and cold ambiances it embraces with some kind of harmonic infinity. Gothic rock is not dead! LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

Sojourner - Empires Of Ash

Those of you who are tired of waiting for the next album of Summoning or Caladan Brood should pay some attention to this one. Empires Of Ash brings seven epic folk tunes inspired by nature and fantasy tales that are carefully carved in black metal sound. Empires Of Ash is a consistent album, a harmonic one, full of magic, atmosphere and melancholy. Even though this is a debut album for this band it sounds like we deal with some veterans. LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

Sweet Ermengarde - Ex Oblivione

Everything you ever searched in gothic rock and even more is right here. Ex Oblivione offers thirteen tracks full of dense atmosphere, melancholy, darkness, strange quite modern compositional twists, hellish power and sublime melodies. Ex Oblivione is one of the best gothic rock albums ever, it's adventurous, lush, will make your feelings waveing with its sonorities that will push you into hell and then make you see how it's like in heaven. Good production, intriguing compositions, Lovecraftian lyrics, melancholic, yet rich in atmosphere. LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

The Beauty Of Gemina - Minor Sun

Swiss dark wave/dark rock band The Beauty Of Gemina are back with their seventh full lenght Minor Sun. The band perfectly mixes elements from dark rock, dark wave, folk and electronic music with classical elements that are integrated into many songs. Minor Sun is melancholic and the same time enlightening and heart-warming collection of songs, yet they manage to escape from the straitjacket of any genre labeling like they've always used to do by being genuine. LINK / LISTEN

The Last Cry - Goodbye

British darkwave act The Last Cry already gained quite a reputation in their home country, as well in the gothic rock underground. But one thing is sure, the band which is centered around charismatic frontman Andrew Birch nailed it for real with their latest offering named Goodbye. This album is one of the most emotional, genuine and personal darkwave albums ever recorded, and even if it has kind of a subtle vintage post-punk undertone all over the place, it still sounds modern. This album is a very nice mix of emotion and groove . LINK / LISTEN

The Mission - Another Fall From Grace

Goth rock living legends The Mission came up with a masterpiece that is kind of long lost missing link between The Sisters Of Mercy's First And Last And Always and The Mission's God's Own Medicine, both albums where The Mission's mastermind Wayne Hussey was involved. This is an album that proves that the band is vital as they have ever been. In the constant shape-shifting world of popular music trends will come and go, but The Mission are absolutely here to remain. Another Fall From Grace is a high class gothic rock record above all means. LINK / LISTEN

Trees Of Eternity - Hour Of The Nightingale

Hour Of The Nightingale is a sweeping testimony how the darkness, all the sadness and all of the beauty the one can endure is transformed into music. It's an intimate sonic journey that needs your devotion, a sombre and yet sweet lullaby for those who can bear the heaviness of the most intricate inner thoughts. It's a testimony of ubiquitous presence of constant loss and oddly enough yet there are rays of the brightest of light that this album holds within its songs and lyrics. LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

Vanha - Within The Mist Of Sorrow

Vanha is deeply influenced by 90s doom metal masters like My Dying Bride, early Anathema and Paradise Lost, but it's contemporary enough by bringing into the sound that special melancholic atmospheric sound. Within The Mist Of Sorrow consists of seven tracks that will lead the listener into the grey world reflecting nothing but death, depression, agony and darkness. This album shows huge talent of musicians involved in its creation, it's a must for everybody who fancies atmospheric and melancholic sort of doom. LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

Wolcensmen - Songs From The Fyrgen

Songs From The Fyrgen take the listener on a brilliantly magical journey through the ancient glory days of heathen Britannia. Dan Kapp has managed to craft a neo-folk album which seems surprisingly fresh and energetic. Songs From The Fyrgen takes the magnificent network of friends Dan Kapp has amassed over his years in the industry and brought a hand-picked selection into the fold. Each instrument and vocal arrangement seem to be deliberate and reverent to the past, all pointing toward the glorious history of his revered nation and its people. LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

Wormfood - L'Envers

Wormfood must be considered without any doubt as a powerhouse of French dark metal scene and on L'Envers they not only justify it, they did an album that could be a highlight of this years gothic metal scene in general. There are many captivating catchy hooks and melodies on this album, but it's because of a rather avantgardish compositional structure of the songs that it doesn't really flourish out, it keeps everything a bit suspenseful. L'Envers is kind of perverse and obscure horror stage play transformed into sound. LINK / REVIEW / LISTEN

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