I like the pensive mood at the beginning and the catchy synth riffs. The injection of intensity at :22 is nice, and I like the bass-y snare sample tom-toms at the transitions. The melody line at :44 is also nice, and the piece is pretty downtempo for a track of yours. The piece doesn’t have a lot of structural variety, but rather a constant sense of energy. I also think the piece gets a bit repetitive after a while, especially with the tom-tom transitions, crashes, and lead synth riffs. I also think it would’ve helped create some more contrasting energy and dynamics levels if you had fleshed out the breakdown at 2:48 without re-introducing the other harmonies so quickly thereafter. Still, the production quality is crystal clear here, and the modulation at 3:49 really helps hit this piece home towards the end. I still feel like this piece sounds like a danceable piece trying to be a slow jam, but otherwise you nailed the mood, atmosphere, mixing, and melodies. Keep at it, EndK! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10

Loving it, It has that 90s feel oddly which is in line with something like Stranger Things which is amazing to me.

Great mix. Great production.
Composition is very retro-ethereal. Hits the Synthwave spot just right.

I'm amazed that on your first attempt, you made a song outside of your comfort zone that's this good! And you managed to avoid a generic sound as well.

You became really good at making your percussion and melodies work well together; I remember I used to comment on that a lot. It now seems like an area of strength for you.

This might be typical for the genre, so take this with a grain of salt, but I'm not a fan of the use of what seems sort of like white noise. I find it a little distracting, which is unfortunate because there's so much ear candy in the song. I also think that the song is ever-so-slightly over-compressed, and it creates an effect that sounds like all the elements are glued together into one wall of sound; perhaps you wanted that, but I can tell you put a lot of effort into making the leads sound highly expressive, and I think the leads would shine more if they were a little more detached. I hope that makes sense :P

Still, this is a great track, especially considering the genre change.

Like Chrono, I also love the key change.

This sounds so serious... as if it's for an eighties training montage that occurs just prior to the final event that differentiates itself from a typical training montage by also intermittently showing clips of the traumatizing moments the film's protagonist had to deal with throughout the rest of the movie. (Also, it's a good song.)

I'm so glad to hear a new song from you again, Filip.
I missed ya.