I like the powerful chords at the beginning and the floaty arpeggios. It’s a little hard to follow the pattern of rhythmic emphasis at first, but it gets substantially easier once the beat comes in at :15. The drums could use a bit of a boost in the mix at times, especially the snare, but otherwise the production quality is solid here. I love the “naked arpeggios” at :45 and :53 interspersed with the heavy guitar riffs. There’s a good amount of variety in the guitar riffs, too - I think the jumpy melodies at 1:14 are my favorite, and the string harmonies there are a nice touch too. The transition at 1:43 is a bit abrupt, both harmonically and in terms of the mood. The frantic harmonies at 2:43 are nice, though, and the rich pads at 2:55 really hit the spot too. Love the triumphant feel at 3:20 or so, which completely changes again by 3:24 into a foreboding and harmonically unstable riff.

There are a lot of good ideas here in isolation, but the arrangement feels a bit choppy overall and the piece often lacks an overarching sense of direction. There are some great compositional details - like the pause at 4:20 and the funky rhythms at 5:34 - but also some abrupt transitions, like at 5:06. The phasing effects at 6:00 are also really cool, and the piece comes together well in the end with the higher-register melodic content. That said, starting at 5:52 the lead guitar is struggling to stay on top of the rest of the mix, particularly the pads. I’d double check to make sure the pads don’t have any low-register tones that could be creating some mud, and maybe employ some stereo widening or other space shaping tools to separate out those frequencies as much as possible. The bass fill at 6:38 was a good idea, and the somber and dissonant piano/strings outro seems fitting too.

Overall, there is a ton of awesome creative energy in this piece. Love the sound design, melodies, and rhythmic content. The mixing could use a bit of cleaning up at times, and I think this piece would feel more cohesive if you would consolidate some of the compositional ideas and focus on crafting more gradual transitions. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed a lot of the guitar riffs, atmospheric content, and mood shifts here. Keep it up, FourTHat3! Thanks for coming out to the NGUAC. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
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
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
8/10

Some finer aspects of mix are not quite all there -- the song sounds very much as if mixed by a guitar player, if you catch my drift. By that I mean, all elements sit behind the guitar, particularly the upper mid range of the guitar.

HOWEVER, the balance between kick drum and the rest of the track is pretty good. It cuts through well, sounds good. I only have a bit of gripe with the particular crashes chosen not sounding too great a fit for the piece. A bit darker treatment to the EQ or alternatively backing off their volume a bit and giving just a bit of gentle verb may help. They're very bright, sticking out over the rest of the arrangement.

I like the snare drum but would recommend turning it up a bit and allowing for a bit of verb as well. .2 to .3 dB would be fine.

The section at 1:30 is absolutely beautiful btw -- reminds me of the nightwish I would jam out to in my youth. Overall, great playing, great writing.

I would raise the bass up to a dB, turn the rhythm guitars down a little when they are playing in the upper mids. They sound fine in the lower range. Some kind of resonance or EQ is causing that jump in loudness, must be.

The lead at 6:00 could use more 2k-4k imo until 6:25, where it sits very well.

Compositionally, so, so great. This is the kind of music I dream of. Great work!

Wow, 7:30. Super ambitious! This is giving Street Fighter meets Dynasty Warriors, I feel. While it's not totally prog rock, I really love the more prog rock elements here - 2:42 is SO good. And that transition at 4:20 to the next part is just *chefs kiss*! Amazing track. Good luck in the finals!

This sounds like it was made specifically for my brain. Rock on!

Sounds like it would go well in an action platformer game