The flute melodies at the beginning sound graceful, but the instruments playing them don’t sound particularly authentic. Some reverb on the flutes might help enrich the sense of atmosphere, but the strings at :16 also accomplish that purpose pretty well. I like the sense of build into 1:01, but the cello there is also rather clearly fake, as is the guitar at 1:23. Sometimes, if you don’t have orchestral samples that sound real, it’s better to replace them with instruments that are meant to sound synthetic, even if you’re going for a cinematic vibe. It’s also fairly easy to get free or low-cost orchestral samples that sound decent. I’d suggest PM’ing @LD-W and joining the NG Audio Pub on Discord. The Resources tab there is full of great sample libraries and tips on where to find more.

Instrumentation aside, I really like the melodies and rhythmic syncopation in the drums. It did throw me off occasionally that the strings were playing dotted quarter-eighth-quarter-quarter instead of quarter-quarter-quarter-quarter when accompanying the guitar solo, but that’s a small detail. The harmonies were occasionally dissonant here, notably at around :55 and 2:40, but it bothers me less at 2:40 since that section is very transitional. Another compositional nitpick I have at 3:13 is that the cello solo seems a bit “over-decorated” - it’s squeezing in a lot of frantic notes that don’t always add a ton of interest to the melodic contour. I appreciate how you varied the guitar solo at 3:47 compared to the first one. The outro with the church bells and string arpeggios also works well.

Overall, there’s a lot to like with the melodies, progression, and rhythmic content here, and the mix sounds pretty clean and well-balanced. Work on beefing up your sample library, and this could be a top-notch track. Keep it up, Joel! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.25/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7.5/10

Amazing!