NAC Judge
That's a pretty eery song haha Huge props on having great vocals...well damn I don't have much to say about this one, it's really well made and original! A perfect submission in my eyes!

Congrats on winning the second place in contest and very happy Christmas to you and your family. Your place in the contest itself tells you about the standard of the song :)

Oh man, this is good. When you reviewed my competition submission with that "I surrender" tone I thought you had like mediocre music or something, but no. Far from it. This sounds original, creative, unique, humorous but at the same time disturbing. You REALLY know what you're doing. So don't go all "I give up" when you actually make great music please k thanks.

OK to start off, I need to commend you on making something original... maybe the style isn't entirely original (sounds very much like circus music, especially with that chime riff) but nobody ever makes music like this on Newgrounds, so it's so refreshing to hear it. Even the way you sing it is very creative and different.

Speaking of singing, your voice is actually good. You call it horrendous but yet you hit the notes perfectly and the voice itself sounds great. Excellent recording quality too. I love how the 's' sound isn't too loud... did you use a pop filter or a de-esser or something? Cool vocal harmonies; did you do those all yourself as well? By the way, lyrics are great but at times, the lines are too long and you sometimes put the accent on the wrong syllable of a word (like "present" at 1:09).

What I like the most about the singing is how you sing though. You don't hesitate at all, and sing it with a lot of movement, making it very fun to listen to. You're really not afraid to show off your voice here, and I love how you accent your voice sometimes, like adding that really clear emphasis on the words in "Christmas time's abound the air" and those over-exaggerated voice tones at "Kill all my friends if that's what it takes - All I want this year are Christmas cakes". Oh and let's not forget the massive breaths you take sometimes before a verse. Those are funny. This kind of prominent emphasis gives the song a kind of disturbing quality to it, making it very memorable, and still humorous.

Your composition is great! The chords behind the voice were quite typical and don't really take any risks, but that kind of simplicity is what gives the composition its charm. One little detail I liked quite particularly about the composition is when you add that discordant note at 2:16. You throw it in right after the vocals suddenly turn into growling, so you were able to reflect what was going on with the vocals in your chime accompaniment. It's such a small detail but damn was it a good idea. The accompaniment itself is great, especially at 0:54. Great rhythms; very fitting with the vocals.

The instrumentation, like the composition, doesn't take many risks either. It sounds very winter-like and cold; perfect for a Christmas song. You know, thanks to the instruments you use, along with the vocals, I think that, apart from maybe bassfiddlejones's submission, this is the only one that truly sounds reminiscent of a Christmas carol. Sure it's not all happy like Jingle Bells or something - in a way it's almost a parody of Christmas carols - but it still has very much of a Christmas carol vibe to it, making it very relevant to the competition. Bravo.

The one reason I'm not giving this full marks is because I don't feel that as a song it holds its own. The lyrics are well-written, the execution is great, the composition is fitting... but in the end I can't ignore the fact that this is practically the same thing from beginning to end. After listening to it once, you don't really get the satisfaction of listening to a full song. You don't really feel like it went anywhere. This is because once you've heard the first minute of the song, you've basically heard it all, and if it weren't for the varied lyrics this would get seriously repetitive.

The thing is, if you make this any more complex, it might lose a bit of the charm it has. While I certainly commend you on making something creative and executing it so masterfully, this kind of style doesn't leave you much room to take any risks and make something really satisfying to listen to. But I mean this is still a fantastic song and I'm considerably impressed. Great work; keep it up! Good luck in the contest too.

9/10
5/5

I didn't notice any lines that were too long because the performance was spot on. I loved this.

This has Zipper all over it, wherever you go you surely leave a mark.
You feature really impressive choice of instruments giving a chilly winter feeling, and the way you composed the song fits perfectly with the vocals.
The vocals are really good, the mixing is perfect and your pitch and tone and spot on, the lyrics however although well written some times are too long for the song itself, thats very noticeable in "there's plenty sunlight" and " perfect for a snowball fight". The creepy approach is also a bold move but kind of expected from you :D.
Good work Zipper!