[Purplepash]

I am ambivalent about both of these albums so not an easy choice. Even though with Clairvoyant I felt like I had heard it before, though I know I haven't, and I haven't heard much like Valley of Grace before, in the end I would rather go to a rock concert than a slam poetry reading so The Contortionist gets my vote here.

[dihansse]

I'm with Purplepash here: neither of the two albums incite a feeling of enthusiasm here but Clairvoyant wins.

[baystateoftheart]

These two are easily my two least favorites of the tournament so far. I wouldn't go so far as to say either is bad, but I also don't have a strong desire to hear either again. Narrow win to Elucid. Critiques:

~~~

I am a big fan of hip hop that is political, and Elucid certainly fits the bill, but I found his sociopolitical rapping to be awkward and uninspiring. It's possible that I wasn't listening closely enough, but I picked up more trite slogans than instances of a unique, vital personal voice.

Further, it's pretty light on flows/bars/hooks, which dampens my enjoyment of the project. The beats are different, not really a point for or against the record.

~~~

I am not a metal fan, and it wasn't until this year that I made any effort to challenge my bias against the genre (with mixed success). So I wasn't expecting to like this album much. This was my first time listening to anything tagged as "progressive metal" or "post-metal", and I found the textures of the music interesting. I would like to eventually hear some of the more acclaimed examples of these genres.

However, while the textures were a plus, the album that they were arranged into was somewhat monotonous and drab as a whole. I appreciate that the vocals are not growled or screamed like some other metal I've heard, but I also found the lead singer's voice annoying, and the lyrics forgettable.
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