Oh wow, thanks for the huge compliment :O
Yeah, I think the secret is that we're both both ready enough to give up on some of our own ideas for the sake of a great conjoined effort. And we can both also decide not go give up ideas if we trust in them xD
I think that's a great key to making the best out of both people's abilities.

There was a thunderstorm here too today! And rain, ofc ^ ^
I actually recorded some of it, and might use it in the future :D
Thank you for clicking on the link, and for reviewing too <333

There's definitely no clipping at or around 3:10. The only thing remotely similar is a deep percussion hit, which may be what you heard :p
Mushy as in sentimental :/?
Is that a bad thing? XD

As for the flutes and singing, I don't feel the same way, and when I bring the volume down, it still feels pretty balanced. That said, the flutes and choirs here are in some pretty high frequency areas of the spectrum, which may be why you feel this way.

The thing about being disjointed, I can kind of understand. We made this track, with our aims to have it evolve a lot during the time it's playing, and we wanted to use some harsher transitions too. But there are things in the track relating different parts together, if you search for them ;)

Thanks for listening, and for leaving a review! :D

That's great to hear! We were kind of waiting for your review, hehhe, and you did not disappoint ;)
We appreciate that you appreciate the structure and the vision behind this composition. I always find that when one is introduced to a new world, be it by book, movie, game or music, there is so much that is never told. A story, no matter how huge, almost always leaves somthing more to be desired, and some mysteries that are never solved. That, is part of the beauty, at least to me. It may also lure the one who enjoyed the world back for more :p
It's also good that we managed to "force" you to just sit back and listen, instead of analyzing the track too much in depth. I've never been too huge on theory, partly because of laziness, but also because if used too forcibly, it can limit freedom. I never fully understand why some people analyze a book thoroughly on the first read, especially if it's a book that was never meant to be analyzed in such a way :)
Sure, you can learn a lot of things by doing so, but I always think that at least the first round should be enjoyed as what it is; entertainment, in most cases. Informational books are another story XD
Same goes when listening to music. A lot of times, it's best to just live the music instead of dissecting it :3

Back to the track, after that weird sidenote :p
It's good that the sudden transition into the piano part is something that people have liked so far. We were a bit worried that the sudden tempo, time signature and rhythm change would throw people off. And dem0lecule is definitely responsible for 3:51 XD

This track definitely works in layers, at least in some parts. Many of the backing rhythms and such are dem0's, and many of the melodies are mine, especially at parts where it gets pretty crammed :)

Then again, many of the backings in the first half are mine, and some very good melodies were made by dem0 o.O
I guess I tried to hide my own style a bit though, so that this would sound more uniformal :p

Thanks so much for your review, we appreciate it a lot ;)

Thank you for the long review, Andrew!

Yeah, dem0lecule makes really good and high quality music. I think he used different 8dio for most of the strings, but I can't tell you for sure :)

Interesting thing about the bell at 1:53 is that it accidentally starts 1/16 of a measure too early. But I've come to like it, as it catches the listener off guard and brings them back to the track, in case they were just casually listening.

The quick mood changes are for the most part intentional, just like if you were telling a story and suddenly something new happens.

As for the strings cutting off, I kind of get what you mean. I don't mind when listening, but if I'm trying to read into it, I can hear that a little bit. I don't think more reverb is a good idea, but if it could be made to sound realistic/good, the automation fade could be useful at some points. I've used it myself here and there is the past :)

As for the choirs, I think they're incredible. Dem0lecule got the library very recently, and it sounds brilliant, and is well used!

If I remember correctly, 3:35 is actually a harp, a glock and a xylophone playing slightly different things at the same time!

You can thank dem0 for 4:20 :)
Originally, he had the piano play that, but for the sake of variety he changed it up.

I get what you mean with the coherency. For the most part, this is a track about evolving and moving forward (I guess that in a way, you could say it's progressive, hehhe), and aside from that, it is essentially a loop. This means we definitely didn't want to make it too repetive. But that said, we have places where things repeat, which I'm sure you would've noticed more upon relistening.

The one that is easiest to notice, is the flute at 1:17, the piano at 2:08 (I think that the melody could almost be louder here, but then again, the choir is beautiful to listen to as well), and the choir at 3:02, which hints at the same melody.
I would've originally included the melody in some adaptation in two more places, but it didn't fit entirely there, and I didn't want to force it.
But aside from that, there are a lot of other places that feature some repetition.

Listen to the brass at 3:11 for example, as well as the brass at 4:09.

Aside from melodies, there are a lot of places in the rhythm and backing elements that repeat. One is the piano at 2:26 and the pizzicato you mentioned at 4:18.
I could go on to name other spots too, but I'm sure it's more fun to listen for yourself :)
You're very right though, there is perhaps not much coherency in the in the traditional sense featured in this composition :p

Thanks a lot for your constructive review, and thank you for listening and favoriting :D
I hope to hear more of your stuff once you get time to make some more ;)

It's pretty weird, but I don't feel like this is 6 minutes long either. I guess that paradoxically, even if there are more things going on, it makes it feel like this track is actually shorter than it is, or something like that. Because with so many changes, maybe our minds don't focus as much on the time, but more on what's going on? Idk XD

The criticism may be vaild. I honestly didn't have a lot to do in the productional aspects of this track, but what I do know is that it had to be rendered in 5 different rounds, because of the size and all the great instruments that dem0lecule owns. I can only imagine what a nightmare this must've been to mix/produce, and I'm very happy with dem0's work, as this sounds 1000x times better than if I would've tried :D

As for the composition, we both worked hours upon hours to get these results, so we're very happy to notice that so many people have liked the composition so far :3

Thank you for your review, DL2Electron!