I love the wonky meter and rich sound design here. The increasing frequency of the electric guitar strums over the first minute gives the piece a subtle sense of build-up, even if it’s fairly slow to progress overall. The prominent bass at 1:23 is really nice, as are the soothing vocals at 1:39 and the subtle build-up into 2:00 or so. When the lyrical vocals finally come in at 2:07, it feels really profound somehow, like everything else up to that point was an attempt to say something as directly as you do at 2:07. The 4-count at the end was a bit cheesy, but also strangely meditative. You definitely broke the fourth wall with this one, Spoonman, and your raw, down-to-earth style has always been really compelling to me. Strong production and phrasing here, too. Thanks so much for participating in the NGADM this year! Been an absolute pleasure hearing your music (and I damn well intend on listening to plenty more of it after the competition, too). ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10

Interesting as hell! The mix is raw in a good way. I do think the hihat could come about 15 percent left

Guitars as always are well played and have a great tone. Contrast between loud and soft sections for these is well done. I find myself wanting the vocals to pop more on bigger sections. The dry aspect in the verses and builds really makes the track. On bigger sections, they could have FX added for more contrast.

Beyond that, you have a great voice when you sing out. Keep on doing what you're doing!

Ah, you're situation makes more sense now, a chill vibe guy in a death metal competition. The avant garde spin is a nice touch. Do you spend a lot of time evoking other emotions and giving them contextual barriers? Psychology is rooted in ancient Greek and while some call it the study of the mind... soul is probably more fitting but irrelevant here. Your beats bottle up the mental essence of calm most times and I'm not sure if it's self soothing for you but it is for me. Trying to capture those other emotions mean 'invoking' them to 'evoke' them in others... most old magical texts function on similar mechanics... the question is if you can get into those states or even want to... many get possessed by them and others can't be guided away from them. A well regulated person is probably like an actor in being able to experience and feel them all while returning to a base state but it seem's likely that the Heath Ledger's Joker was too much for him... personalities are molded with emotions so be careful what you wish for in leaving chill mode... that said... if you know both and can flip between them, your work might help others do the same as emotions need to transition be but in disharmony, transitioned, and worked into another harmony... I don't know the scales but I'm sure there's a metaphor there. All the same. Good job bud!