I love the drop it sounds like you could make a GD bossfight from it

I like the ominous fade-in at the beginning and the echo-y harp pattern that comes in shortly thereafter. The snare sample is a tad generic, and the intro as a whole drags on for a bit too long without creating much of a sense of progression. The build-up into 1:29 was nice, and the drop was full of variety and some fun sound effects and melodic filler.

The volume levels in this piece are a bit unwieldy at times - right after the first drop (1:57), the main melodic riff comes in at the loudest volume the listener has heard so far in the piece, which seems a bit jarring after the very energetic drop section. Also a little on the loud side was the plucked synth at 2:41. You then double down on the “gradually louder verse/bridge content” theme with the part at 4:06. In theory, these volume level changes were a creative idea, but it actually comes across as a bit cheesy and forced.

By contrast, the echo-y and mysterious repeat of the melodic pattern at 5:01 was really nice. Again, the outro seemed a bit dragged-out, much like the intro, and for a track this long you don’t vary the harmonies of the piece too much. That said, the sound design, rhythmic content at the drops, progression, atmosphere, and mixing are all on the plus side for me. Keep at it, Darkkit10! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
8/10

ooh, cool basses! the melodic flair in this is unique and dripping with thematic potency, love that you're setting a scene purely through composition and instrumentation. the mix is kinda wacky and seems to have a hard time deciding which elements are the most important though. and i appreciate the dynamics and headroom, but i think you want to pump the percussion and basslines a lot harder than you are currently - the synth leads are not nearly as exciting as their volume would have me believe. bit on the long side too, but i dig the atmospheric ending a lot. good job!

important notes on my NGUAC review process: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1476427/18#bbspost26965604_post_text

:) five stars