Reviews for Dark n' Damp

[Step]

This is an NGADM Round 2 Review

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Now this is one hell of a track. By far the most atmospheric out of this round. Despite it being so long and drawn out, I love how there's still a lot to take in. You hear occasional sound effects here and there, subtle variations in the song's parts, and meaningful changes later on in the track that completely change the atmosphere or mood. This is, in my opinion, precisely how one should pull off an ambient/progressive track of this type. For instance, at 2:46 you introduce this subtle whistle-esque background instrument that, given the imagery you've created for your track, sounds a whole lot like wind whistling to the tune of the music.

While I'm impressed with how patient you are in this track and how you take your time with everything, I can't help but think the pacing is still a bit slow. There were points where I got bored with what I was listening to, possibly because of the general lack of definable foreground melodies during a lot of the sections.

When we finally get treated to the heavier metal sections it feels like a relief, but it shouldn't feel like a relief. It should feel like the whole song was building up to it and feel like we enjoyed every second of the ride. Don't get me wrong, this is still suitably captivating and REALLY well-made, but I was hoping for some more interesting stuff to happen in the quieter bits to justify calling this more than just "background music".

On a couple of smaller notes, the snares you use in this track are very mid-heavy, especially in the former third of the track, which strains the ear a little. For a track that boasts a super wide and hollow atmosphere, having a snare that's so dry and concentrated on a specific set of frequencies is a bit unfitting, lol. Lastly, the voices at 3:24 are really cool and fit with the whole "cave" premise you've presented, but I think they're a bit dry. Might be just me though.

Anyway, let me just say that it's a huge shame to see you go. You were up against one of the highest-scoring contestants this round, but you definitely didn't go down without a fight, and one hell of a fight at that. This is well-structured, wonderfully atmospheric, and all in all an unforgettable experience. Excellent work, and I hope my criticism helped.

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SCORE: 9.0/10

[stunkel]

NGADM Review:

Hey man, so this track is really solid and I actually really like the sound/instrument combinations you used in this track. I felt that it all went together very well and carried a really satisfying and smooth emotion throughout the track. I guess I just have two complaints: One is that the track drags on a little too long. I think I would have enjoyed chilling out and letting myself become immersed in this track more if there was a melody on piano or guitar that played more consistently. Another complaint I had was the sound of the snare in the beginning. When the snares were turned off it just sounded very... present. The fact that the snare was given a pitch (because the snares weren't there) made me feel that it was more repetitive as well it stood out more since it was definable BY it's pitch. I also didn't feel very excited when changes were made to the track, like when you added the distorted electric guitar or the snare sound changed. I'm not sure why I felt this way; maybe it was the pacing... but I just didn't really feel as immersed as I expected to from the beginning.

Anyways dude, solid track! Thanks for participating in NGADM c:

8.4/10

-Ryan

[Azhthar]

This is a really cool atmospheric track! Did you play all the instruments by yourself? In this case you have a lot of respect from me producing more than 7 mins of music in this jam. I love the voices and the atmospheric cricket sounds and stuff.
The doomy part around 4 mins is definitely really cool! The quality of your recordings is also very good. The mixing is not overloadet with highs to achieve a superclear mix which actually is perfect for the track, and it´s dark atmosphere. Although you went for a bit darker mixing every instrument has it´s own space and sitting perfectly imo. Everything is also played really tight (especially the drums). Usually I try to figure out what I maybe could be done better but I really don´t find anything here. At least not in the style of track you were going for. As a bassist by myself I maybe would have played a different bassline sometimes, but that´s really just a matter of taste/style I guess ;)
Congrats to this awesome track and good luck!

thebitterroost responds:

Thanks man! Yeah, there's actually no synth/MIDI in this track, since my dabbling last time wasn't too hot. I'll try to hone those skills maybe during a time when I'm not in a judging situation, lol. I did play everything; I've had to one-man-band it for a number of years, so I'm trying to expand my instrument palette. Which is good (for experience) and bad, for the reason you just touched on: my bass playing is clearly the weakest link in the track (or any track of mine, honestly). I'm still learning, got a long way to go. Good luck to you as well!

[NyxTheShield]

The prog rock vibes are real. Really cool stuff, reminds me between amixture of Wilson and FLoyd, good job!!

[ChronoNomad]

You did this in just two days? Color me impressed.

When I saw the overall length of the track I was first amazed, then kind of concerned that such a long track would be crazy repetitive, and ended up being just plain blown away. Yeah, it's a little repetitious here and there, but for a song that's over seven minutes long it's much less so than I would have imagined.

I truly dig the vibe, or perhaps I should say vibes, since this goes through a few transformations as it progresses. Starting out all cool and chill I was already enjoying the ride. Then you morph into kind of a sweet Pink Floyd-esque jam around the 3-minute mark. Finally it enters the dark, heavy chugging of the dangerous cavern as it reaches the epic climax. Then you end it all with some more super chill acoustic strumming and cymbal builds. And I love every single minute of the journey!

Please keep on doing what you're doing, man. This thing gave me shivers even after I was done listening, so I came back and gave it another go. Considering the overall length of the song, that is really saying something.

Thanks for making this. Seriously.

thebitterroost responds:

I'm humbled, glad you like it! Though the past two days were pretty full with this project, the toughest part for me (the general writing) was mostly done before I left town, so it's not as impressive a feat as it maybe sounded via the thread. Drums were already set up and mic'ed from the past tune, so that alone saved a lot of time and motviation, lol. So, mainly tracking and writing a few leads. It's funny, the whistling and choir parts I did because I needed something on top of those sections and didn't have time to root around and find a good soundfont/patch, so I was like "f**k it, I'll use my voice." I am *not* a good vocalist, so it was kinda desperate, but luckily turned out tolerable. I also learned that whistling is damn tough. Thanks for the encouraging review, man.