Sounds good
Starting Off:
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Not bad. Gets a bit sluggish a points from overuse of the same 4 chords but other than that it does a good job at setting an atmosphere. Also, parts of the song go on too long without enough (noticeable) change to keep it interesting. However, It does have a nice expansive sound and sounds relatively well mixed.
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Suggestions for Improvements:
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Hopefully this doesn't come out sounding harsh. I'm gonna speak my mind and not sugar-coat it because sugar-coatin' never helped anyone. It took me awhile to find out why, even though I liked it tonally, the song sounded boring. I came up with this...
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Some of the sections run too long with the same progression and tones.
I'm guessing but it sounds like 70-80% of this song contains the same 4 chords playing repeatedly with different instruments. Interludes like at 1:08, 2:47 and 3:26 are a nice change of pace, but they have identical chord progressions as well. Actually, from 2:46-4:05 its the same 4 chords playing the entire time.(over 32 bars)
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Its great that new instruments come in, but if their playing the exact same progression in the exact same way it kills the point of adding something new. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the song lacks contrast. It doesn't have extreme blacks and whites, highs and lows, etc. It comes off as just being gray and flat. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Gray is great for background, just not for keeping interest. If you wanna keep the audiences interested for 5 minutes 14 seconds you have to have something more going on. Something to catch the listener off guard and make him/her interested.
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What Works:
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I like the way it starts out and ends with the bells. They add really nice touch of atmosphere to the song. Gives a mysterious feeling. Sounds almost like your in a cave. I'm not sure what that has to do with "bad news", but it sounds nice. The melody has a nice mellow feeling to it and works well throughout the piece. The instrument choices you made were great as well and different than one would expect. Actually, Even though the notation was repetitive, you used (or at least sounded like you used) a wide variety of instruments and managed to get them to all work well together in this song. Great job.
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Conclusion:
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You need to work on length. If its going to be 5 mins it needs to keep interest. I'm not saying that it needs to have crazy drum beats, quick playing synths, and explosions (though that would be awesome ^-^), but I should be able to hear something new and engaging with each passing phrase. Take the best parts and trim the excess and filler. Keep it short and sweet.
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I make these mistakes all the time (most people don't call me on it though :P .)
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Final Score:
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Vote:3.5 out of 5 (I rounded this up to a 4)
Review: 7.5 out of 10 (I rounded this down to a solid 7 to counteract my rounding up on the vote score)
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There's always a definite improvement from you from song to song. I know you do a lot of mellow, but for your next song I wanna hear the opposite (exciting). I think the shift would help you in the long run (even with your calm, peaceful songs). Keep improving like you are and there'll be no stopping you.
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All the best,
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~Hex Monkey~
dicennian 
