Saturday, September 4, 2021

Prog Contest Tournament of Champions - The Semifinals

Update: Because we've all listened to these albums multiple times now (hopefully), voting ends this coming Friday. Here's how it shapes up:

T2
It'll All Work Out in Boomland


"Rocks hard, psychs hard, even progs a bit with some really beautiful moments scattered throughout" -MeatSalad

Youtube: https://youtu.be/I1cKMIfcumg

vs.

Landberk
One Man Tells Another


"Album is about dark atmospheres. The music is soaked through in melancholy and sadness with an overpowering sense of beauty." - Jethro42

Link: https://musicmp3.ru/artist_landberk__album_one-man-tells-another.html#.Vs8wckn2a1s


and


Universal Totem Orchestra
Mathematical Mother


"The 3rd outing from this adventurous Italian band delivers a sleek, dark sound characterized by sensitive operatic vocals, sprinklings of funky fusion, and miles upon miles of rock-solid, infectious groove. Ambient segues recalling Dead Can Dance (Elogio del Dubbio) fuse seamlessly with Zeuhl-like flights of rhythmic fury and atmospheric jazzy passages. The wildly varied whirlwind of an opener is worth the price of admission alone and the playful album centerpiece "Architettura Dell'Acqua" is every bit as jam-packed with expansive, symphonic Orffian bombast as any of the territory covered on Mekanïk Destruktïẁ Kommandöh. That is not to say, however, that any of the other songs should be skipped! If operatic vocals are not an immediate deterrent (I find them to be tastefully employed here), UTO’s creative arrangements and superb instrumental interplay are bound to leave you floored." - bnelso55

Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzGnLbB9RSopCK_kDtjBDF90aU2sYNkvI

vs.

Wobbler
From Silence to Somewhere


"Seen by many prog fans as a modern classic of the genre, Wobbler's latest record is one of the few modern album that does justice to the genre's older 70's sound. Great production and excellent instrumentation make for a thrilling, energetic and infectious sound that drags only a little bit in very few parts of the record." - MrSirLordGentleman

Youtube: https://youtu.be/j2W_UAIqwbk