This is a NGADM Round 1 Review.

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Good:
- Fantastic, relaxing and atmospheric intro.
- Thoughtful lyrics.
- Great guitar work!
- Mixture of singing/rapping.

Really enjoyed the intro, the guitar and pads create a very atmospheric and relaxed energy that persists throughout the song. Your lyrics are thoughtful and carries a powerful message; well done! The guitar work throughout the track is great, I thought your solo work suited the song perfectly.

What to consider:
- Vocals fall a little flat on times.
- The mix could be tidied up, especially near the end of the track (2:41 - 3:26).
- Rap vocals sit in a slightly different space in the mix.
- The song's conclusion ("It is not me!") which starts at 2:41, lasts too long.

The vocals waver from time to time. I think practicing some breathing exercises and doing some vocal warm-ups prior to singing/recording would help tremendously! The mix becomes cluttered during the song's conclusion, I think there is a little too much going on between the drums, vocals, etc. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the conclusion itself sounds a little dragged out. That being said, the more I listen to it, the more it sounds right. I am pretty conflicted over what to think about it haha!

A great entry overall, and with some tweaking, it would be that much better. Keep it up, Divo! :)

Score: 7.6/10

I love the pensive and relaxed mood at the beginning. It has this awesome, soothing, drone-like quality. The vocals are soulful and emotional, and I love the melodic content in the lead guitar. The lyrics themselves are also pretty good. The rap at 1:17 was also cool. You took a risk by combining the more direct, spoken words with such a smooth, classic rock-style piece, but I think it paid off. I really admire your ability to layer the vocals, like at 1:56. I understand that it can be very hard to do. I love all the little guitar solos, and this piece is well-structured and smooth-flowing. I thought the kick was a little weak, and you could’ve done a little more with the drums in general, especially towards the last “emotional height” with the repeated “not me” vocals. I would’ve liked to see you do a little more with that emotional height than just repeat “it is not me” too. I thought you also could’ve used more of a breakdown/re-intro section towards the middle with some more dynamic contrast and phrasing. Overall, though, this is a strong performance. I love the emotion, the instruments, and the reverb. Keep up the good work, DivoFST! ;)

9/10

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

Pretty good song! May the best song win in the NGADM!

Yo, DivoFST! I've been making my way through all the entries, which is admittedly kind of a slow and tedious process, and trying to review as many as I can. You were awesome enough to offer me up a quick review, and I'm happy to return the favor. Let's get this party started!

I was impressed right off the bat by the soulful strains of guitar with backing synth. Then percussion is also pretty solid, though it did at times seem a little soft in the mix, especially that kick since it doesn't really have much of a punch effect to it. The instrumentation in general is great, and I really like some of the subtler things that you have going on in the background from time to time. The one thing that seems rather off is the random electric guitar pluck that occurs just before 3:30 in that ending chord. Was it put in for the additional echo effect?

Moving on to the lyrics side, while I think the words themselves are pretty good, the vocals and vocal mixing aren't really on the same level as the music and drums. Some of the sung notes end up clashing with the other instruments here and there, and while they aren't bad by any stretch of the imagination, I do think they could be improved upon. Ultimately, they come across as being a touch flat, so I think it's more the way you're singing than anything else. I get that it fits with the mood of the song, but even lyrics like this can be sung with increased emotion and power.

I was a bit confused by the change at 1:17, in all honesty. It seemed like a Rap break, which I think is actually a really kick ass idea in a song like this, but it doesn't *sound* like a Rap. The lyrics aren't tight enough, they're too drawn out and are almost sung even though they're mostly spoken. Rap requires a different sort of sound, very quick and concise, not to mention a certain type of presence. Hopefully that makes some sense, especially since I feel that it's such a fantastic idea to ramp up the song's variety and expand things in a very cool way. Kind of like a kick drum, Rap needs to have some punch to it!

I wish you the best of luck here in the NGADM! Cheers right back at you! :D