Hello! This is a review for the NGUAC competition.
I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!
Constructive Criticism:
- You may want to reign in your mix, especially the bass. When it isn't being sidechained to the kick, it fills up your mix by a very large amount. Specifically the subs sound as if they're causing difficulty mixing the higher sections, and their intensity pulls away from the rest of the track's mix. This is especially prevalent in your builds. Even outside of the bass specifically, the way you have this mixed is highly dense and compressed. There is very little room for the builds to contrast well with your calmer sections solely because of how loud EVERYTHING is all the time. I also noticed there are numerous sounds being buried in the climactic portions. It's also notable that with this much intensity, listening to this track is very fatiguing, particularly when repeated.
- You may want to have some variation in your track to contrast the first and second halves. I noticed, listening through, that the second half is almost identically copied and pasted from the first. Even in highly formulaic genres like dance music and dubstep, the second climax tends to have increased intensity and/or complexity compared to the first. Think of the intensity curve in stories for example: You have the introduction, rising action, an initial climax followed by a lull, followed by more rising action until you reach the true climax of the story and falling action to the epilogue. This type of organization is extremely effective for media in general, and I believe it would greatly enhance the interest your music pulls from a listener.
Compliments to the Composer:
- Damn, this grooves. As much as I've commented on the mix and organization, I think the unwind after your climaxes feels really really good, and I'd actually like it to be worked with even more. It could even be made the initial 'climax' with a few elements of the normal climax itself, focusing in very clearly on the groove your bass work creates combined with the kick sidechaining.
Final score: 6.5
ALGOfficial 
