I like the warm texture at the beginning. It’s a little slow to progress, but I love the phrasing in the pads. The lead at :53 was a nice touch, but I’m not sure the high-pitched arpeggios complement the texture very well. Overall, the mix is pretty clean, but I think the composition is a little underwhelming. The chord progression is pretty cliche, and the rest of the harmony parts are heavily grounded in that progression. The pause at 2:03 was a little sudden and awkward, but I appreciated your attempt at structural variety and emotion with the piano at 2:06. There’s also another rough transition at 4:04, and overall not a lot of new material in the second half of the piece to keep me engaged. The sound design is probably my favorite element of the piece, but overall the piece needs a little more textural fill in places and some more substantial melodic content. I was also impressed with the mixing, though. Keep at it, Madze. ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.75/1
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.25/10

Interesting track.

R 5/5

The main chord progression is cool, as is the main melody line. I think, however if you were to put some other overlaying melodies that play off of each other as the song progresses, it would add a lot to the overall intensity. Also, I can't help but feel that when the triplet synth-line hits in, the drums should follow suit with a similar 6/8 beat, mainly with the bass drum. I also felt that there were a lot of great builds that should've built into a bigger climax. Throughout the piece I was just waiting and waiting for that soaring moment to follow one of those builds, and it never quite hit that peak. I can hear where you wanted it to feel the most impactful, but it never truly reaches that point. I would suggest maybe applying some more cymbal work around those areas, mainly hi-hats, deepening the bass a bit more, and adding some soaring melodies, especially around the end. I can see from your description that you didn't have enough time to complete it to your liking, but after the competition, if you feel that you want to tweak this song, these are some suggestions I have. Overall, great potential, just a little under-cooked in my opinion.