Amazing!!!!

score: 9/10

what I liked:

• reverse piano in the beginning is very captivating and beautiful
• very powerful drop and a nice buildup leading up to it
• unique use of guitar in the next section, not a follower of dubstep but I feel like not many people use acoustic guitar
• I like the chords you used, I think it fits the story you wrote well
• I like that you didn't simply copy and paste the first drop into the second, they were both unique and pack the same amount of energy
• good structure overall, the quiet sections help create room for the intense ones to shine
• great production quality overall as well

what I think could be improved on:

• personally not a fan of the vocals, think it would've been cool to use a vocoder synth instead which I think would fit better
• I would prefer more sidechaining or a pumping bass, I think it would help bring out the drums more
• 2:51 - I don't this screamed section fits well in the context of the entire song
• 4:20 - this piano is too robotic; since you used a nice acoustic guitar, I think you should match the human-ness by at least having slight variations in velocity here and there, and maybe offset the position of each note (add imperfections)
• the Ab final chord was a little unexpected, I think to match the overall mood of this song I would've chosen a Db (iii - IV half cadence) to end the song to emphasize the "distant" theme

I like the reverse piano at the beginning and the tranquil riff at :14. The echo-y fade-in of the vocals at :27 was a nice touch, and I’m enjoying the crisp beats and rich atmosphere in the meantime. The melodies at :41 are nice, and I also really like the lyrics. The vocals themselves have some really heavy autotune, which is fine if it’s necessary, but ideally it wouldn’t be. The drop at 1:22 has a great sense of energy and drive, and the harsh leads there really goes nicely with the thematic content - it’s like it represents the singer’s passion for his absent loved one. The guitar during the re-intro at 1:51 was a nice touch, and while the second verse/build-up cycle is pretty similar to the first, I enjoyed the variations that were there, like the more aggressive-sounding vocals at 2:51 and the synth riff at 2:47. I also really enjoyed the variations on the drop the second time around. The piano echo of the vocal melody at 4:20 was a nice choice. It seems like the piece ends in the middle of a vocal phrase, but overall you did a great job with the progression and flow here. The arrangement itself might be a tad generic, though. Still, I’m impressed with the production quality, sound design, and intricacy of the rhythmic content. Pretty much all of my complaints here are small compositional details. Keep up the good work, Wertw! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10