Damn, that was a close battle (I was just 0.04 points behind you in the group haha). This is a great song, it's nice to know another rock artist!

I like the pensive guitar riff at the beginning and the eerie atmosphere. While slow to progress at first, the texture really starts coming together with the powerful guitar chords at :45. The drums are rather soft in the mix, although it’s less noticeable during the verses. I absolutely love the lead riff at 1:36. The transition at 1:50 was pretty abrupt, as was the re-entry of the lead guitar at 2:06. The melodic content here is fantastic, but again, the mix could use some tightening up.

The drums should be way stronger at sections like 2:48 - idk what DAW you use to produce this, but if stereo widening is an option, it might be useful to keep the atmospheric elements panned to the sides so that the drums have more space front-and-center. I’m sure it’s also really tough balancing the heavy guitars and the drums in a piece like this, but giving the top end of the drums a nudge forward with an EQ might help.

The composition here is really strong, though. I’m really digging the variety, sound design, and progression of this piece. I think one of my favorite individual sections is the call-and-response between the bass and the kinda atonal lead riff at 4:03. You also hit the piece home strongly with the climax at 4:55.

Overall, this would be a top-notch piece if the different instruments, especially the drums, sounded more distinct and crisp in the mix. The composition is a storytelling journey, the sound design is evocative and blends well, and the rhythmic content and atmosphere really string me along nicely between the sections with the heavy guitars. Keep it up, Mischa-head! ^_^

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
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.75/10

I love this so much!

I think I actually would like a bit of high end rolled off of your cymbals for this track. They are quite bright for such a dark and brooding dirge.

Some issues with mix early on, lots of wet verb and delay crowding out the finer points of your mix and muddying the dry signals. Bass playing is taking center stage, and it sounds great, but I also want to hear your kick, snare, rhythm guitar, and lead. 2:30 is a point of contention in that regard. 2:48 suffers less so as it is intended to be a big open section without extreme lyricism.

Overall, I find that the verbs could be taken down and or tails shortened as not to take away from your fantastic structure and melodic ideas.

3:44 sounds best. Bass playing is lovely and lyrical. It almost becomes a lead instrument of its own.

Panning on the hihats could stand to be pushed to the left channel and taken down a bit. Snare may benefit from a 3 to 5 percent right panning and the room panned 2% to 4% left.

Love 5:29. This is much cleaner and a great balance.

Synths could use low end rolled off of their wet signals and low mids. The lead guitar chugging in high mids could be pushed up .3 dB and high end rolled off. Ping-pong delay, chorus, or auto panning 15% left and right would help bring that element above the shoegaze subtly enough to be heard.

Mastering compression to be applied after these and other small fixes would do much good! Compositionally I would rate 5/5. In terms of mix, there is just a bit holding it back. Fantastic playing and mood is on point. Great work!

this is so epic, would’ve loved to hear some of your vocals on top of this but that would’ve just been a bonus because it definitely works as an instrumental track. Great work as always :)