WOW O_O
really awesome =D
Reviews for "-The wanderer-"
This is an NGADM Round 5 Review.
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Second place in the NGADM. Pretty darn amazing... And you were really close to beating Kor-Rune too. You did a fantastic job throughout the whole competition and this song reflects that!
So yeah, turns out Kor-Rune wasn't the only one to shift to a slightly different style for this round. This song is much more atmospheric and professional-sounding than your previous tracks. Not saying that your previous ones aren't professional-sounding, but this one has certain progressions, transitions, and chord choices that make it portray a very good mood-setting feeling. And it feels totally like a journey. Its length makes it very open for all sorts of imaginative storylines and by the end of it I definitely felt like I was done from some sort of adventure or journey.
What I've really got to commend you on would be your composition though. Sure, it's not super sophisticated and out of the norm like Kor-Rune's, but it's just so likeable. The melodies feel very inspired and are creatively written. Everything sounded really catchy and the thematic motifs were all compositionally solid and very memorable. The highlights of the composition, for me, would undoubtedly be the motif at 1:09, the chord choices at 2:59, the descending melody at 4:49 (and the wonderfully subtle transition to it) and the harmonies at around 5:44.
The atmosphere and sounds are probably the highlights of this glorious piece of work. Something that you've always excelled in is being able to showcase sounds that don't usually fit well together or aren't standardised in any particular genre, and over here it's certainly no exception. You've got such a variety and diversity of instruments, some which I can't even name. I'm hearing a piano, glock, strings, choir, a guitar, bongos, and all sorts of percussion. And then you've got breathy sound effects like the one at 4:18 which come out of nowhere but fit so well. All of these sounds created a superb atmosphere that certainly makes this stand out from other songs of this genre.
The percussion, by the way, is extraordinarily good. You achieved such a pristine balance between having a light percussive section and still giving the percussion a sophisticated feeling, even adding some heavy bass drums, snares and crash cymbals. Truth is, I absolutely loved the percussion. This kind of percussion line is something I've dreamt of getting right for months, but I've never managed to make something nearly as good as this. The beat is just so chill and fitting. I especially like the extremely soft percussion you incorporate at parts like 2:45. It just works so well. Awesome intro and outro too, can't complain about any of them.
While I admittedly feel that this deserves a slightly higher score than Kor-Rune's track, I can still hear a few issues, the main one being similar to Kor-Rune's issue; that it just doesn't remain sounding interesting and fresh throughout. While you've got a variety of different moods and atmospheres, the whole track generally stays pretty low-key and nothing incredibly exciting happens.
Yeah, the song has its moments, but the thing is, it just latches on to certain motifs for far too long and nothing revolutionary happens in-between; the trademark of background music. but as I've always said, in the NGADM we don't judge songs as background music, but as standalone songs, and unfortunately, after the first few listens this track gets quite uninteresting. This can be fixed by adding in more interesting parts instead of spending considerably lengthy periods of time setting a mood.
And wouldn't it be amazing to get a reiteration of the theme at 1:09 towards the end, in a really glorious and massive climax? That would give the listener something to anticipate rather than just allow the song to die down at the end. It'll also help round the song up nicely.
So yeah, my only complaint is that for an eight minute song, this can often get quite uninteresting. However, you've done every other aspect of the song so ridiculously well that it leaves me amazed.
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9.5/10
Thanks for the advice on your facebook page! It really helped me out! Anyways, the music...A beautiful mix of mid-eastern, ambient and orchestral elements! Truly an amazing piece! Although most of your songs are amazing! Keep on doing what you do! For you have inspired me to make newgrounds channel for my music! :D
once again, Im lost inside my own head, with only the ending to bring me out.WHY DID IT HAVE TO END?!
this song makes everything i do in slow motion. this is probably the greatist thing thats ever touched my ears. this song is perfect. ive been searching on newgrounds for some thing like this and ive finally found it. i hope you can appreciate this review. 11/5. this song is worth downloading.