This is a NGADM Round 1 Review.

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Good:
- Love the guitar/synth blending.
- Great riffs, good structuring overall.
- Excellent use of the break/relief!
- Great for everyday listening OR for use in any form of media.

Oh yeah! This blending of the guitar and synth really appeals to my ears! You implement both skillfully, and the riffs and scaling are put to good use here. The break (2:25) was placed perfectly, and honestly, I would have loved to hear a relief in the first half of the track, too. On top of all of this, I think this is a track that would be suited to pretty anything (games, film, TV, casual listening). It is pretty rare for a piece of music in this style to have that characteristic.

What to consider:
- A little repetitious.
- Some mixing issues here and there.
- Conclusion was cut just a few seconds too short.

Yep, the track is a little repetitive. It isn't repetitive to the point where I became bored while listening, but the same riff is utilized with minimal differences just one too many times. There are some mixing quirks that can be heard around the song, but nothing that really stood out a whole lot. The drums could have used some more 'punch' and the there are few times where I felt like the bass didn't hold much power in the track. The conclusion was sounding great, everything was coming together and winding down...and then it stops just short of where it FELT like it should have.

Excellent stuff, keep it up!

Score: 7.9/10

I like the upbeat guitar sound here, although I think you could’ve found a more creative way of introducing the piece than with a fade-in. The drums are a little dry. I think they should’ve been a lot more up-front in the mix, with more reverb too. Compressing them might help. The melodic content in this piece is great, and overall it seems well-structured and smooth-flowing. I like the structural relief you offer at 2:25. However, I think you missed an opportunity to play with the dynamic contrast/phrasing a bit more throughout that breakdown section. I wanted to see a more dramatic crescendo into the next refrain, and also some more interesting mini-phrases so that the entire section didn’t sound so structurally flat. The mood here is really cool. It sounds almost victorious by the end, and I liked your idea of using the tempo automation to wind things down. The very end literally made me groan, though. You should’ve used more reverb and/or echo effects (or at least some sort of volume/filter automation) so that the last chord doesn’t cut off so suddenly. Overall solid work! Hope this review helped. Keep at it, man. ;)

8/10

This review was written for the Newgrounds Audio Death Match 2015.

fuck yea it's like post-hardcore meets post-rock, right up my alley! the kind of repetition you've used is also right up my alley :) actually i know a lot of chip musicians who write in this style, the similarities are uncanny. awesome guitar playing and writing, the solo with the synth unison at the end is just fantastic. i'd say the drum writing is a bit weak compared to the rest and i'm not sold on that snare sound but there are some great moments for the drums too. really good work man!

This is cool.

I'd be careful with some of the repetition though. In terms of composition, you like to stay with one theme just a bit too far out of its welcome before you move on to a break. When the theme starts off at the beginning it's really cool, but the constant trilling can become a bit of a bother after hearing it about 30+ times (I apologize for being a bit harsh, but it's probably no wheres near the detail that the judges will be getting in). I love the break at 01:17-01:50. Not only is it refreshing but the atmosphere you're making is well done. 02:25 reminds me of something that I learned at NGADM last year. Volume dynamics is a beautiful thing. You don't want a song that's loud all of the time because listeners ears will feel tired towards the end of the song, but at the same time you don't want a song that's too quiet otherwise it will give the listeners a feeling of emptiness during the song. So I guess a rule of thumb is more dynamic contrast the better. Last point about composition. Do more with the ending, especially since you still have time before the deadline. The ending is too abrupt. All you need is maybe an ending chord to properly end the song. Like whatever chord you're in at 03:58. What you're doing is that you have a chord that's in the main key of the song at 03:58 (I don't know what it is but let's say that this song is in the key of D) and then it sounds like you go into the 5th chord at 04:02 (lets say A) which acts as a transition chord. The problem is that you stop there. You're not settling the song when it ends and it acts as a really bad cliff hanger. All you need is a guitar and synth thing striking the main chord again with a drum hit and that's all you need to make the ending a bit better.

Now for instruments and mastering. As larrynachos pointed out the mastering is good. The drums are also good. If anything they could be just a little louder. But the drumming really compliments the song and I never once thought that the drums were out of place. The kick is quite authoritative and overall the drums drive the song well. The guitar work is really good too. Especially at 02:25; I really love that part. The most brilliant part of this song I think (aside from 02:25) is the synth in this song. It just blends well with the guitars, and (just like I've said before) the mastering is done just right especially with the synth.

So to wrap it up really quick. Not bad. You could explore themes move and add a bit more variation with sections like 02:25, but fix the ending. Especially since you have time right now. Fix the ending. It doesn't need much. Do it.

Good work and good luck
-Spadezer-

Well that was fast. How the heck did you get something like this done in such a short amount of time?

The sections are a bit monotonous, but the progression is nice. The thing that stands out to me in this song is the mastering. Dear god the mastering. I've always wanted to make rock/metal music, but I'm rubbish at mixing the instruments together. You've mastered the art of mastering!

I don't know how I'm gonna compete against this. I'm probably screwed lol. Good luck!