The 2017 Arsies: January 25, 2017

January 25, 2017

Emotion	●●○	●●●
Memorability	●●●	●●○
Replayability	●●○	●●○
Innovation	●●●	●●●
Pace	●●○	●●○
Shredding	●●●	●●○
Vocals	●●○	●●●
Production	●●●	●●●

Tough call today, friends! Sneak a peek at the scorecard: it's a dead heat!
Anciients go first with Voice Of The Void, and once again remind me how magical their chameleonlike nature really is. The more I listen to it, the more familiar callbacks to other bands I can recognize... and yet the less that those comparisons detract from the album's intrinsic awesomeness. On the other hand, Entheos' The Infinite Nothing is bewildering in its intricacy, its alien soundscape. And it's definitely the more shredded of the two choices today. It's also arguably the one with less heart.
Both releases are excellent, and if you haven't heard them by now, you're missing two of the albums that surprised and delighted me most in 2016. Alas, two bands enter, one band leaves. And although Voice Of The Void is almost twice as long as The Infinite Nothing, Anciients deliver the more rewarding performance. Just barely.
Anciients will come back next week in the first Quarterfinal match, against Textures. Tomorrow: Meshuggah and Aborted do their respective things.