Arponax's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[ADREN_x67B]

Lets begin shall we? :D

It is loud. Its incredible how you were able to push it so much while still having insanely clean mix.
This stuff far beyond my abilities so ill not talk about mixing (not that i do much tho XD) :D

The intro feels like we are present at rebellions base and just going through the briefing, really nice work with background voices and FXs.

When at 0:30 lead synth is introduced it kinda adds that sophistication to everything from how the base itself works and the strategy were being familiarized with.
Your work with growls is really nice, this kind of "dubstep" (or maybe electro house, not really sure) works very well with the nature of a very chaotic action scene 1:30 there is a short intermission that reminds us were not in a familiar nor friendly environment and i like it, 1:45 those crunchy sounds are just lovely.

2:14-2:57 I feel like some real storytelling begins right here and im not sure if you actually imagined it like that but to me it feels very mysterious as if one of the soldiers looked into a random room and found out some really weird stuff...maybe some of Bastions experiments or maybe just something dangerous that must be told to rebellions command.

After that the song gets back to its pacing and now it feels more furious and raw, stuff got serious.

3:53 We reached our destination and are preparing to plant the bomb and get outta here.

4:12 this short part here is totally my style(absolutely love it) and it feels like just run and gun action...like, we have few minutes to get out and just shoot everything that is not us.

4:50 is a very creative touch in my opinion...after the powerplant destruction we hear some of Bastions systems turning off...and simply know, we succeeded.

Wow, i basically just described whole song, thats mostly because i cant really think of any compositional thing or critique to add or change, development is really nice, mixing is hella crispy i love it...most of the song is not really my style, tho i enjoyed this interesting approach to the mission.

Thank you for choosing this story and making this sick ass banger :D keep it up.

Also congrats on FrontPage

vekoN responds:

thank you so much for the rating and review! <3 it's insane that i got 4.5 stars from you!!

and, intriguing story you have going on with my track! truth be told i didn't entirely consciously try to tell a story with this, i just kind of applied my usual rather narrowly-focused compositional methods and let the track decide where it went. once i have some instruments and sound design going it's easy for me to come up with sections; the tricky part is making them fit together coherently. i think i've gotten better at that

and yeah about the mixing, i'm glad that it sounds both clean and loud! i think i've gotten hella far with that kind of thing since i started mixing that way, although to my ears i still have some distance to cover. but yeah, i'm glad that's good!

again thank you for designing and hosting the challenge! it was super fun applying my skills to create something for it! i hope you have a lovely day :)

[Hailstorm | Turning the Tides of War]

Well VGMC is over and now its time to enjoy them bangers.

The intro 0:00-0:10 is very interesting, those subtle percussive sounds at the beginning with a bass and sudden silence, to me it feels like if i just received the message, and at 0:13 went right into the hyperspace with the escort.

Those synths at the intersection are absolutely lovely, dystopic scifi synths are always pleasure to hear in any scifi soundtrack.

The whole part before the drop works perfectly to convey a very serious situation, dense atmosphere and prepare you really well for what is to come.

the drop 1:09 sounds awesome, pure adrenaline driven action scene...i only wish that those dystopic synth lead were utilised (more? i guess they are there tho very supressed compared to before) throughout the drop, to add that dense atmosphere into the drop...after all at that point its a "now or never" situation, every move matters and failure is unacceptable.

Even without that, the drop still slaps and the second half works just fine for what i described. Hard hitting bass adds that much needed seriousness.

2:33 i am a big sudden transitions enthusiast :D so i absolutely love this...it feels like i were following the soldiers at their mission and suddenly went dark not knowing how they managed to push through, to me theres a lot of uncertainty in that and i would kinda like it to be longer before the guitar is introduced...maybe a subtle pad to fill in the void and kinda prepare my focus on that one sudden note.

Now the second half, complete turn around, that bittersweet feeling to it is absolutely gorgeous, we moved from hard hitting synth sounds to more organic instruments, adding humanity and emotion to it all...i know that the soldiers managed to complete their mission as the drums start kicking in yet theres alot of weight and pain. Even tho they won there were loses, even tho they knew its inevitable, doesnt change the fact that it hurts to lose your comrades.

The organ arp is a cherry on top of this beautiful finale and brings in freshly gained hope for the whole rebellion.

Oh boy and i love that contrast between synthesized sound and organic vibes.

I think you nailed your ideas really well...i am not sure to what degree i imagined it the same way but that is one of the beautiful aspects of music where everyone has their own imagination.

Well to stop my bragging :D

Sound wise im not sure what i could talk about since to me it feels mixed well and i consider it the same or higher level than my own.

Thank you for joining VGMC and picking my story, good job.

GasGrass responds:

Thorough analysis! I have to be honest...not ALL of this was 100% intentional, but the interpretation adds to the experience. Glad you liked the track! Your story setup was sick!

[Pooo1-Battlefield]

Yo

I have to say that im really loving those synths, they give out incredible scifi vibes and i just feel they would fit into some sort of hi-tech or dystopic scifi, which Adal is.

To me, the 0:00-0:24 feels like the mission is still in stealth and the soldiers are slowly progressing.
When the growl kicks in at 0:30 it almost feels like im listening to a totally different story.

I dont know if you saw "Dubstep guns by Corridor digital" but those drops really remind me of that...those long sliding growls give me those really wonky "badass" slow-mo camera shots.

With that being said im not sure if this kinda dubstep actually fits the narrative, its very slow paced while the nature of our mission after the stealth has been compromised feels more as n adrenaline rush where we are outnumbered and need to complete the mission as fast as possible, cause this might be our last chance.

Aside from that i feel like the growls themselves could develop a bit, they sound always the same and change only rhythmically a little.

And also one of the reasons why im rating 4 stars are those lovely synths in intro, breakdown and second half of your last drop.
I absolutely adore them cause they convey that feeling of "we stand against a technological pillar". I would totally love if you explored them more in this song.

Overall pretty track, thanks for joining VGMC and keep em bangers coming.

pooo1 responds:

yay, thanks!

[3manon - Turning the Tides of War]

This, right here...is the most unique song XD one really has to acknowledge your creative approach.

So heres my review, its mostly a personal preference and i hope it will be helpful atleast a little.

Your mixing is spot on, the vocals are really nice.

0:00-1:31 The intro is awesome with all them spaceship sounds, the scanner in the background while hearing the message...nice atmosphere.

That little smirk at "and rebel we did" XD

Like the little touch of a ship leaving into hyperspace.

1:36-1:54 You took absolutely literal approach and i like it...the sounds and everything.

In short this whole part from 0:00-2:46 is giving me incredible vibes and goosebumps.

So why am i rating only 3,5 stars. Its like i am not listening to a song...i am listening to a movie without actually seeing it.
When making narrative driven music it is absolutely okay to put in some literal scenes (explosions maybe some shouts or gun shots) but in my personal preference it should feel like a part of the song itself.

In that cyberpunk part i want to be immersed but those lasers and all things just break it for me.

If all the talking was saved only for the parts at 0:00-2:14 and 3:43-4:18 i would have absolute blast of an experience.

The thing is, it is still music and we can convey so many emotions and stories simply by working with our instruments. (e.g. if i want to convey sadness, i dont need to put in a recording of someone crying...i make a sad melody)

But im sure you know all of this and this piece is still an incredible experiment of yours.

Sound-wise theres alot of details and work put into it and at the end of the day all i can say is, good job.

You gave me a hard time coming with some actual review :D so i hope everything here makes sense.

Thank you for picking my story and keep up the incredible work bruv.

PS. the hell is that melodic addition at 3:04, its so weird. XDD

3manonMusic responds:

Thank you so much for the elaborate feedback! If you want to feel immersed without the vocals and sfx interrupting, there is also an instrumental on my account!

[MECAOS]

First of all i really like the concept youre taking here...those chiptune-ish sounds add alot to the idea of a machine without any emotions and full of logic.

The reason i am rating 3 stars is simply because, even tho its about some sort of ai it is not really following the story narrative.

There is a lot of potential to make the song richer i believe. I agree on a lot of things with vekoN.
Melodies should develop over time and the song needs to progress.

At 0:45 you introduce some sort of pad or key? works nice for me adds another layer.
Tho i feel like you could play with that a little bit more instead of it following the same pattern as your main lead why not make it work as a counter melody, it would add more interesting variations that i as a listener could focus on.

Yeah, aside from these points im not sure theres more to be said that vekoN already didnt mention.

Thanks for joining the VGMC and keep it up...theres always alot to learn...so i hope that my review will be helpful. :D

Gustavoshark responds:

Thank you for sharing your opinion, I will try to improve my next songs

[Space Travel]

Alright, the time has finally come :D please take this review as mostly personal preference and a friendly suggestion.

I love the intro alot...as i said in first review of this, it really feels like if i was in a game and my spaceship is a lobby where i choose missions.

0:00-1:08 is my favorite part, it feels like a game and conveys the idea of being in space. Also the buildup that begins at 0:52 works very well as a swift illustration of briefing and overall atmosphere at rebellions base. They are nervous yet feel hopefull that a change might be closer than they think.

1:08-2:20 this might be more of a personal preference but i feel like the noise riser is too loud, its almost hurtfull to listen to at higher volumes (definitely taming those high ends might be a great solution), aside from that the first half of your drop is mostly alright, a little clipping here and there but thats nothing deal breaking.

At 1:45 you introduce growls...they are incredibly obnoxious...to me it feels like two approaches could be taken here:

Either you wanted those growls to be a background noise to induce some sort of chaos in which case i believe it would be a really cool element if done better...lowering the overall volume and taming the sounds with EQ might do the trick(you dont want them to take too much of your space or it will simply clash with everything else and just sound like a big mush of noises).

Or you wanted them to be a precise instrument in your composition(melodic, rhythmical doesnt matter) in this case you need to learn to actually work with them...they need purpose, what do they convey to me...how do they accompany other intruments in your composition, they simply are there and dont know what they want to do.

And this goes throughout the whole song to the point where im more and more lowering the volume because it just gets louder and clips more while the only thing that is there are those growls.

So what to say so im not only criticising.
I think that the main thing you should focus on is to control your growls better, give them purpose and context.

Another thing ive seen here is that the composition (even tho the main idea is really nice) is not really developing much...melodies are still the same and the song becomes a bit boring.

To me the part at 4:22 to like 5:12 works as a natural ending of this story, really love that little detail of the bomb ticking and the dissonant piano to symbolise explosion, very creative element and a nice touch of humanity after all that chaos. Sometimes it is better to make a shorter piece where every part has its meaning and place rather than repeat the same ideas all over again.

Overall the song has some really nice ideas which i think work well with the story.
I hope i wasnt too braggy and that you will find some valuable suggestions in this.

Keep it up and refine your craft.

Voytek-Music responds:

Thanks for this a lot! As I said, it's like my third dubstep song, so I'm not experienced. Also the growls on first drop used to be the bg. I tried to make this song once again and that's how I made a part 2 (the growls are much better there). Ill make the mix better, but I'm still learning how to do it well. Ill try to do something with it later.
You were close about the story, but in my concept it was a bit different:

The first part you guessed well, the first drop is when we get to the speed of light and travel to the destination. After that drop we realise how hard the mission will be, then at the build were getting to the bastion. The second drop is basically a battle. After the second drop we think we won, but there was a bomb and we didn't manage to defuse it. Were trying to rise again, but it's hard. Everything is burning and exploding. Then we finally rise and the battle starts again (that's the third drop). Then we destroy the bastion and win.

Ok. I tried some mastering. I hope I did it well. If you still have some issues with this, tell me, I want to make this song as good as possible, but my skill level doesnt let me lol

[Think against the mix]

da hell is that waveform ayo. Also sounds dope good job XD

DaxCamdaxian responds:

Thanks bro 😎

[Jamuary 2025 - #3 (On A Roll)]

Oh those flex guitars are bad :D even tho that might count only for those powerchords. clean guitar sounds nice.

Also a little tip if you will venture for some rock/metal stuff...you can always spice your riffs up with some palm mutes (tho im not sure if flex is able to do that), that will add cool rhythmical structure to it and it will get that real rock vibe.

But cool work. Good luck with jamuary :D also listened to your 5th song, really nice XD

NikoN1nja responds:

To be honest I'm so bad at finding a good distortion sound for guitar that FLEX's powerchords was the best option XD

Thanks for the tip and a review anyway :)

[Beyond (Perimeter Theme)]

really well done track...when it hits 1:12 it feels like it doesnt stop and just gets more dense i absolutely love that...the bass is simple and lovely, drums are mysterious (maybe if they were less in front or a bit more "cloudy" it would make the feel stronger...but thats my perception), oh boy that guitar.

Deserved Frontpage.

I will have to listen to this once more sometime.

PixxlMan responds:

Thank you! Glad you like it :)