The frantic arpeggios at the beginning are a little hard to follow, but the atmosphere and sound design are nice. There’s a good sense of climax into :31, but the bass there is a bit too loud. The panning on that lead synth at :57 is cool, but it also sounds like the mix is getting a bit overwhelmed there because the kick doesn’t come through super well. The modulation at 1:30 was a little unexpected, as are the ones at 2:00 and 2:11. Sometimes the arrangement of this piece is a little too choppy for its own good. I think you tried to pack too many narrative shifts into 8 minutes - the result is that the structure is a bit jarring, and it’s hard to follow the overarching flow of it. As a general rule, there should be very few times in your piece where you have a sudden transition that completely switches out the instrumental palette for a different one. It’s disorienting to the listener, especially when you hadn’t previously introduced the content on the “after” side of the transition. I think 4:52 is actually one of the most disorienting parts - the tone, key, and pacing of the piece change all at once, whereas at least the previous 5 minutes all had a consistently high energy. Don’t get me wrong - finding a balance between creating enough variety and having a cohesive final product is one of the hardest aspects of making music in my opinion. But this piece tilts the scale way too far towards the variety side in my opinion. That said, the production quality is pretty solid, and you clearly have a good sense of melody and harmony. I also enjoyed the atmospheric elements of the piece. The sound design could be a tad more interesting at times - that piano sample is a bit overused considering how generic it sounds. Still, I can tell you put a ton of work into this piece. All you need to do earn another 1 or 2 points out of 10 from me is consolidate your ideas a bit and smooth over the choppy progression. That’s easier said than done, I know, but you’re already off to a strong start on a lot of the other elements of a top-tier track - mixing, atmosphere, melody writing, sound design. Keep at it, aRho! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7/10

strong contender for best touhou-style track in this bracket. some really great utilisation of the limited instrumental palette and interesting fades and builds. the instrumentation is definitely the weakest part of the track, and while some sounds are passable and even good, the washy reverb drums just don't have the punch and weight the piece deserves, and the constant back and forth slap bass is grating after a while. i know it's the style, but some of the key changes are very abrupt and need better linking chords to help transition nicely (if you're stuck for ideas, any diminished chord will probably work, at least as a placeholder). if nothing else, it definitely earns the 8 minute runtime!

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