Pure-Metal-UTA's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[-Above It All-(Feat. BMI)]

Fucking great! I couldn't say anything to help improve it. Awesome work!

Back-From-Purgatory responds:

Thanks!
\m/

[Demo Tape]

I really dig it! The only critisism I have to offer is that your vocals are standing out way too much. If you haven`t already put a compressor on there, and maybe turn it down by 1-2 dB.
Can`t wait to hear the final take!
\m/

Blackowtt responds:

Thanks for the review, helpful critisism is always accepted :) yeah, i do agree, i will in fact put a compressor ive been wanting to. Yeah the mixing of it all was a bit harsh, but i think ill be able to fix it :) Working hard on the final product, it will be nothing short of absolutly AMAZING, i promise!
As for the compressors, what do you recommend? Anything?
ALSO i have TWO versions of this demo, the other one soundsa bit better with the vox, its not as "emphasized" as this one, which is better suppose :P

Thanks! \m/

[Satan Ist Krieg]

Haven't heard 80's-90's black

At least not like the quality you mentioned (if I even have before)
Honestly though, I see potential in this song, I'd like to see this longer and with better production.

seel responds:

Thanks, yeah the production was intentionally bad, I was actually going to remake it with better quality and make it longer but never got around to doing that.
If you want to hear some 80s black, youtube Immortal blashyrkh, and call of the wintermoon, silly gaylords ensued. Contrary to popular belief it's actually harder than one might think to get down to their level of shitty production without it just sounding like noise though.

[[Fiji] Hold One Last Breath]

It's good, but pretty normal.

This is very trancy indeed, and progressive too, just as you were going for. It's pretty hard to go anything beyond that or complain about anything, to me it's just a normal trance song. Not to say that it's not good, just normal. It's still enjoyable though and it's songs like this that make me enjoy judging this competition more and more, so I'll give you that.

Since I can't really complain I'll give you a fair 8/10, everything's alright to me, good work!

MrFijiWiji responds:

thanks :)

[~Alfa~ Broken Flow]

This is astoundingly awesome!

I have to say, this is a difficult song to put into a structured "Composition, Instrumentation, Mastering" review, since each part complements eachother so much, that I tried to start instrumentation and I was goin onto to how a awesome a certain part was composed. So I have to scratch that entirely for this song. So I'll state certain parts that come to mind as I heard this.
At the beginning I read your comment saying how you used over 20 instruments, at first I was concerned how you would jam pack them all into one only to find that trying to hear them all wasn't the issue, it was counting them all. Because of that I just said screw counting every single instrument you put in there and just went with the flow. I can tell that this is a very trancy song, and there's alot of different progressions and there's a pretty long pause there - by pause I mean the part with no percussions and the part that's supposed to trance out. At this part I really like the piano and it's uniqueness. While surely there's songs with pianos that do that, I believe that this is the first I heard.

You say there's minimal mastering involved, but if that's the case then why is everything so hearable, I mean I've heard songs where everything is hearable, but it seems to me that this takes it to a new level!

You put alot of time into this, and it really shows! I don't know if I can favor songs since I'm a judge for the NGADM, but if I can this is certainly going on the list, superb!

aliaspharow responds:

Wow thanks man! I'm honored.

[White TIger Shark]

Holy shit, this is good!

Throughout the entire competition I've been waiting to actually review one of your songs considering my preffered genre. Can't be biased though so I'm going with the same review structure that I give everyone else now. Before that I will note that while your opponent did a completely different genre, there are many similarities such as the past 2 minute song, the multiple parts, and a very awesome solo-ish part. I will also note that this brings some nostalgia back in me from when I listened to thrash metal alot.

Composition: One thing that sets you apart from your competitor aside from the genre is how you change the progressions, each progression that you used... I can't say too much about the progressions, they're just extremely suiting and I really really like them. The melodies in the each part are great as well, the two melodies that stand out the most is the one at the beginning and the very fast solo at 1:20, the solos shows that you have skill with the guitar, and I really appreciate that as a guitar player myself.

Instrumentation: Given the genre, there's not much to say about the instrumentation, it's pretty basic compared to the electronic genres. There's more than meets the ear though, not all distortions are the same. The distortion used for the guitars sounds very thrashy and that's why it gives me nostalgia when I listen to it. One thing about the drums, if BMI's correct and you're using FL, then I have to say, they sound pretty bland, not the drumbeats themselves, but the drums if you know what I mean. I would talk with him and get some samples, they could come very useful later in the competition if you make it that far.

Mastering: with my knowledge of Metal, this is mastered quite well, one little nitpick I have is the lead guitars a just a tad bit quiet for my liking, they're not underpowered or anything, it's just it seems like they need to stand out alot more than they are.

Great work!

HighBallers responds:

ha, sweet thanks a bunch man. Yep, BMI hooked me up with a badass kit.

Appreciate the comment, its nice to read how somebody can listen to a song very deeply.

I had all my guitar tracks tuned to the same volume level to give it that live performance feel. ha, but maybe i should cranked up my solo a lil more.

[Some Cheesy Trance Thingy]

Wow, not the best but wow.

Composition: HOLY SHIT SO MANY DIFFERENT PARTS!!!! While you maintain the same progression throughout the entire song, there's so much changed after every 8 bars that it's hard to tell that you keep the same progressions at all, that I give you props for, great work. The melodies in every part are great! One complaint I have with the composition is the extremely sudden ending, there are the few times when the song repeats that it sounds like a loop, but it could just be the NG player screwing up the looping effect.

Instrumentation: While you maintain the same instruments for the progressions, it's the melodies with each transition that keep me interested, especially during that fourth part with that cool sound and the fast arpeggio-style notes, that was absolutely great. Nothing's wrong with the progression's instruments either though, it's just the melodies that really draw me to this song.

Mastering: I can't exactly pinpoint it, but something seems wrong with the mastering. At this point I've listened to the song a good 6 times and something with the mastering still seems off.

Great work! This is a great song IMO.

mr-jazzman responds:

Hey, thanks for the review Pure-Metal-UTA! Yeah, I can tell you exactly what's wrong with the mastering. It has too much bass because of the way I've got the compression on the master...or it might even be a lack of it. I'm not entirely sure which yet, I haven't listened to it in my brother's car, as I usually do to see where I'm off lol. Honestly, it was experimental, so if it didn't work, I don't really care lol.

Glad you liked it though man! =D

[When the Time Comes {Dj-Abbic}]

Well put together!

Starting with composition: The buildup was great, after reading the commentary I was listening in anticipation for that transition. The buildup kept me hanging in there as any buildup should. The backround percussions during the buildup were greatly effective. Once it got to the transition, I really enjoyed the melodies. The progression was simple, but it worked for the melodies at hand. The part that made me really go "meh" was the percussions. While I was listening I could hear many different drumbeats that could have gone into this and put a great effect on the song. The end of the song was fairly well done, slowly taking parts away to bring it to a nice close, well done!

Instrumentation: The sounds that you used in this went really well into it, especially for the progressions. While the sound used for the melody is good, there may be a better contender for that melody that could have made it better. Other than that, it's good!

Mastering: The only issue I hear in the mastering is the drums. While they're not so underpowered you can't hear them, they just seem a bit quiet for my liking. Perhaps you could bring them out a bit and there you go.

Hope this helps!

DjAbbic responds:

Thanks :). First of, I know percussion work is lacking. Most of my songs lack it, and I've heard many people say so before :P. I read everything else and listened again and I see what you mean by the melody maybe needing a new sound, it IS a bit empty now that I heard it again. Thanks for all the criticism, very appreciated :)

[Muss: Dalliance]

It's good, but needs more.

Alright I'm going to start with the instrumentation. It's alright, by that it's good, but something seems to be missing from it, but I can't pinpoint what. The flute-sounding synth seemed to be lacking some juice to it, give it more oomph!

Composition: It's very good, and extremely catchy, but due to the instrumentation missing something, the progression of the song has the illusion of going nowhere, when it's obvious that it's certainly going somewhere (if that makes any sense).

For the mastering and EQ, it's alright, the melodies are brought out quite nicely, but that damned flute (or organ) synth seems just to be lurking in the back. bring it out a bit more!

All in all, that flute/organ synth is what gets it for me, put more oomph to it and bring it out more and that might fix the entire song.
Good work!

FairSquare responds:

Thank you :)

[Muss: Memories]

Hooray for imagry!

As soon as the song started playing, I felt a very strongly sad atmosphere in the song. The imagry that pops into my mind is that of a little ophan child being outside in the winter with nowhere to go, just being left to succumb to the cold.
I really enjoy pieces that create imagry in the song, though the imagry that came to mind didn't have much to do with memories, it still created some imagry.
I can't say anything about the levels, everything's hearable and nothing's overpowered.
Great work!

FairSquare responds:

Well, everyone has different memories, if you know what i mean.
But i'm really glad that this song created an image in your head and that you felt the sad atmosphere. I felt really sad when i made this song and i felt lonely too, so i guess that's what you're hearing. I felt better after this song was finished though :)
Thanks for the review, i appreciate it!