This is an NGADM Round 1 Review

--

Oh geez, the melodies are jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Like stunkel said below me, you really hit all the right notes in the composition department. Memorable, well-composed, and incredibly captivating, with solid chord progressions to boot! 3:42's piano solo has to be what really sells your compositional prowess. With such a soft section, you really expressed a lot of emotional power and meaning.

Production is usually something I have little problems with when listening to your music, but I've got to say that this time round that isn't the case. First off, I feel like the mix isn't nearly as bright as it could be. I was really hoping to hear some nice high end fizz by 1:45, but I was left disappointed. Some of the sounds you used didn't quite fit with everything, and some sections are decidedly empty and lacking in power. This is why I feel like the strongest points of your track are the quieter ones, because over there you showcase your raw composing talent without the bells and whistles of a thick, well-produced mix, which of course takes more time and dedication than the 2 weeks of an NGADM round provides.

Anyway, you still get a high score from me for wowing me with such beautiful melodic content. Keep up the wow factor for Round 2!

--

SCORE: 9.2/10

NGADM Review

This is so pretty! I have a lot to say about this. The track from the start had me immersed fully and you transitioned so seamlessly from one part to the next. That’s all I can really say on the matter, it just generally sounded beautiful from the start and the atmosphere which you created really carried on nicely and hardly broke throughout the track.
Composition really pushes the track towards this for me. Your use of dynamic changes in combination with song structure worked wonderfully. Melodies are really nice as well. You seriously nailed this whole track on the side of composition, structure, and melodic themes to create a super immersive experience.
Unfortunately, your production, instrument choice and mixing could use work at some points. From the beginning up until about the 1:40 mark, I absolutely loved your instrument choices and everything was smoothed together so perfectly. What was a little disappointing was to hear the part at 1:45 be a little weaker. It sounded like you were trying to go for something a little bit bigger, and it seemed to fall short due to the instrument choice, mixing and production. For example, using a bigger snare would have been awesome, as well as changing the sound of the synthesizers used. Again, melodic themes and chord progressions sound really pretty, I just felt it could have used more work on the production side. I hear really really nice ideas in the composition, but I the production just takes a hit.
This is awesome though, keep at it! Favorited.

8/10

-Ryan

I love the chill aesthetic at the beginning, and the thunder roll-sounding FX sort of adds to the “eye of the storm” vibe this gives. It progresses quite slowly, but the progression in and of itself is good, and really tugs at my emotions. I think it’s pretty minimalistic for a lot of the piece. Between 1:15 and 1:40, the only thing you have going on is those arpeggios. I’m not going to let you get away with trying to fill your entire texture with reverb, I’m afraid. That said, I did like the direction you were taking this piece in by around 1:30. The drop at 1:46 is really cool. I like how you fade in the reverb at times – it really adds to the flowiness of this piece. The blissful melody at 2:19 was great. I think you didn’t need to (essentially) repeat it for a minute, though. This piece probably didn’t need to be 5 minutes long IMO. I really liked the structural relief you offered at 3:43, though. The emotional quality of this piece is fantastic. I love seeing people prove that electronic music can be just as emotional as any classical piece, haha. The ending felt a little rushed, however, especially compared to the rest of the piece. I’m also not sure it was quite fitting to have that crescendo-and-let-the-reverb-do-the-work combo at the end, as I was looking for a conclusion that fit the relaxed vibe of this piece. Still, this is really solid work. My biggest complaints are the slow progression and repetition. Anyway, keep it up, Aliaspharow! ;)

8.5/10

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

It's about time I leaved you a review.

This track is just brimming with you, right? Your name is written all over this track. But that's not a bad thing, as I'm a big fan of your style!

Once again you've pulled a track with an epic atmosphere, awesome melodies, and perfect mixing. I can't say anything more. It's all great!

The one thing I would complain about is memorability. Once again, this track has your style in it, and while I'm not against that, it does make it sound pretty much the same as your other tracks. There's nothing to cling onto with this one, to say that it's "different", in a way. Y'know?

But anyway, great work! And sorry for the late review, I've been very lazy recently. :/ 5/5, 9/10, good luck!

You did beautiful job with the mixing. I like the atmospheric feel especially at the beginning. I thought for a second I was listening to johnfn stuff. You can really put out some emotional pieces with stuff like this. I can't tell where the rough changes are (unless you intended it to be longer than 04:51).

Lovely
-Spadezer-