A few matte papers are capable of competing with the glossies on contrast and density, and Epson Hot Press is one of them. But many other matte papers would not be so impressive, although still capable of interpreting images in beautiful ways.
But as Ernst mentions, viewing conditions, light direction, and the softness or hardness of the light has consequences on how the light diffuses on the surface, and matte surfaces show a wider range of diffusion responses than glossy ones. Those surface effects also subvert accurately photographing art, but that's another story.
Effects like that are why I feel it is a mistake to judge prints only under ideal lighting conditions. You've got to walk around the studio with your test prints. Go over to the windows, check the miserable yellow lighting in the bathroom, the D50 fluorescent tube in the kitchen area, the awful institutional fluorescent tubes in the storage room, the nice halogen spots in the hallway. And if possible check how they look in your favorite art galleries. And you should see the gorgeous, rich, cool north light on my front porch, I wish I could bottle that stuff. Your prints will look different in each location, and sometimes a lot different.
