Everratic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Going in Style]

I’m very intrigued by the vibes of the song. For most of it, the atmosphere evokes a sense of deep thought and mystery, with the saxophone adding an element of sophistication, and all of these elements combined make me visualize a somber detective story. Later on, once the choir comes in, the song begins to sound more like a battle theme for a video game, and even the saxophone’s melodic content seems to have changed to suit the different vibe. I think you guys did a fantastic job in this area.

Unfortunately, I think that despite the great atmosphere and well-established vibes, the song sounds, or rather, feels, too static. It has a constant somber atmosphere and powerful drums. Perhaps you could have provided a break from the drums when the choir entered?

This is one of my favorite collaborations from the two of you!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Seems like a lot of people hear a detective story in this, and that's pretty cool!

It's great that it sounds mysterious, since the composing process was too, haha. That is, we went in a totally experimental direction, even though that approach is quite risky!
I agree there could probably be some kind of break from the drums at some point. The risk in that is making the loop less smooth, if it were say a background piece to something. But for a competition it's probably best if the songs work perfectly as a standalone.

The sax is indeed a very cool touch, and I'm glad we included it ^___^
Thank you for the review!

[When Your Life is Complete and You Have Everything to Show For It]

I've been listening to this through out the week. It's very relaxing and pleasant :)
It's unfortunate that this was zero bombed, probably more than once :(

FinnMK responds:

Thanks a bunch! And eh, whatever. It happens.

[A City Not Forsaken]

This is quite a complex song, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it :D

The third part, which is my favorite, really reminds me of the pop musician Kesha, particularly some of her tracks from Warrior. I'm curious about where your inspiration came from.

Phonometrologist responds:

I'm glad you enjoyed it and thank you for leaving a comment. To be honest I haven't heard of Kesha, but I'll look her up. For the "third part" of which you speak of, my initial inspiration came from Bob Marley. Hence the reggae feel a little bit.

[Flarpy Puddy]

I enjoyed this a lot. It's simple and soft enough to be background music, and it has a nice uplifting vibe. The main melody is super catchy.

This is me nitpicking, but I feel that the sweeps sound slightly too heavy for this kind of atmosphere. I would have reduced the low-end even further.

My main qualm with this track are the piano chords. It's kinda difficult to articulate precisely what I dislike, but I think this works: the chords add weight to the otherwise dreamy, reverby atmosphere. I would love to hear what you can do if you work towards making your piano arrangements more realistic and expressive (with the intent to do so).

EctiBot responds:

Glad you enjoyed it :)
I agree that the piano could have been a lot better. Was oneof the reasons why I wasn't planning on uploading it. In the future I'll probably do a different approach to piano and chords in tracks like this :).
Thx for the feedback :D

[Frailty and Hope]

The track has a very chilling yet pleasant atmosphere. I love the music box and piano's melodies and arrangement.

The only thing I really dislike here is that the song seems to build up too quickly after becoming quiet. The pad and lead don't get a chance to fully fade out, and it sounds like their current fade outs aren't automated at all. It seems awkward to me. There are several aspects of the track that I become accustomed to after a few more listens, but this isn't one of them.

I would have liked to hear the snare increase in power as the climax progressed.

I'm not fond of the melodic lead. The base sound is okay, but I think it could benefit from having more release as opposed to being played continuously.

Overall, this is quite an interesting and enjoyable song that has a high level of originality.

Spadezer responds:

It sounds like for the most part you enjoyed it. I'm a little confused on which section you're speaking of in terms of fading out the lead and pad. The idea about the bass is interesting, but I wish I would have thought about your idea about the snare. I like that.

We'll see how far I go with personal tastes with the judges because hopefully if my song aligns with their tastes I'll likely get higher scores. Especially for originality, your words there are comforting. Although it's been hard to get an average score above 8 so again we'll see.

Thanks for your thoughts and kind words

[Race Against Yourself]

Wow, the loop is so seamless!

The song is energetic and lively. There are so many nice textures. I love the sound design, as usual. The bass around 1:00 is spectacular, and so is the lead around 1:400 – it seems to have a simple base sound, but the texture of it changes so rapidly– . I like that you used some simpler synths later in the piece. One of the basses sounds like it's trying to scream; it's such a lovely effect that makes me want to be more engaged with the music. I'm blown away by the outstanding production quality and complexity of the sounds, but that tends to happen when I listen to your music :)

zybor responds:

thank you for your review! :)

[Love Never Ending]

This is so beautiful. It reminds me of the main theme from Starbound :D

Bosa responds:

Thank you! I haven't played that yet, but I will have to listen to the theme definitely!

[Called to the Sea]

How is this only 2:45 minutes? It feels like 10 minutes of earpleasure. The song depicts an array of emotions in such a short amount of time.

ChronoNomad responds:

Haha, that's a pretty good trick, no? Very kind of you to say, BlueOceans! I had a lot of fun making this track for the Deserted Island contest, and I am completely blown away by the overall number of listens and positive response. Perhaps I should make more tracks out of samples like this...

Many thanks for the review! ^__^

[Great Commune Of Planet Earth]

Wow, your synths are always incredible. I love those plucks, and the bell is a nice addition. As always, there's so much to admire about the drums. Some of your synths have pretty orchestral qualities, which was a fantastic idea.

zybor responds:

Thank you for your review blueoceans! The pads and swells were created in absynth. They sound pretty close to strings do they! It was a fun experience.

Thanks again for your kind words. Take care!

[Call of the Warrior]

I really enjoyed this. It's a complex track but it's easy to follow. It's rare that I get such a great impression of a song from my first listen. I'm glad you managed to get in and I hope you do well!

Spadezer responds:

Alright. Cool to hear. Thanks for the kind words