I like the apprehensive mood at the beginning. The crisp percussion and the pulse of the strings are great touches. The dissonance at :53 also works really well. Occasionally, I can tell the brass is inauthentic, probably because of the really slow attack. The dark mood here is gripping, although I do think you could’ve humanized some sections a bit more. From what I can tell, the mixing is also pretty strong. I like the climactic finish, but I don’t think the drum fade-out at the end was even remotely necessary. My biggest compositional complaint is that the piece has a constant sense of energy, and it could really use some more shape. Including some sort of breakdown or bridge could really help you out in that regard. That said, this is very impressive work overall. I’m excited to see what else you produce for the contest. Keep it up!

9.25/10