EpikHellSword's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Muse - OST]

That was such a smooth opener. This gives me a kind of space vibe with the blend and integration of the strings, percussions, high hats, and other instruments. I wish I knew the instrument used for the riff of the first song though. I love the smooth transitions into the next track as well whether it seems like a continuation from one track with a sudden beat change or just a fade out into the next. I'll have to watch your breakdown to see the individual instruments. Awesome work.

Irish-Soul responds:

Thanks for the review! If you are referring to the horn sound at 0:20 that was made with a preset from “ARKHIS.” The transition noise was custom designed in “Rise & Hit.” Both of those VSTs are Kontakt instruments from Native Instruments.

Out of all of my VSTs I probably used ARKHIS the most for ambient stuff when I didn’t have time to orchestrate it out. Could I have done it? Yes, but I had deadlines to meet haha

[Killer RAT - Cold And Lovely]

Well, the instrumental certainly is catchy. The vocals coming in were perfect complementaing the riff. Necrophillia being the topic certainly was different. My favorite verse was the third one (The "My bride has died..." part. Btw, you said, "Bitch doesn't deserve a life at 2:44 and the description says "she")
The cup hitting a platform during the buildup should gradually get louder-it started to, but got softer, not even before the first verse. Additionally, the pattern of the cups was not steady with the beat, you should let each instrumental get introduced in a fluid pattern to harmonize them. The background vocals had some static in them starting at 02:32 so you may want to watch the volume of that.
Fantastic work.

guyfromKillerRAT responds:

yes thank you for pointing our inconsistencies with the described lyrics. I will fix that. The "cup hitting the platform" is supposed to be the guy walking back to his car, the crash before it was the coffin being tossed into his trunk. His trunk is really big.

The static vocals were purely intentional

[(DEMO) Lonely Night Solo Session]

The instrumental is very smooth. I especially liked the unique scratching of the guitar at 2:37. However the background creaks were distracting and the audio quality the vocals vastly contrasted with the instrumental. Also delivery like 3:14 seem to be not on beat because there is too much lyrics in the line to flow smoothly with the melody. I also enjoyed the ending with the high hat.

guyfromKillerRAT responds:

yes I hate my vocal track on this song

thankyaw thankyaw xoxo

[The Blazin' Bandit - OST]

It definitely sounds like an unique take on the Western music theme for movies. I like how it sounds cinematic and seems like something for the introduction of a movie. Each instrumental blends excellently easy complementing each other exquisitely while the fade out is masterfully handcrafted. Outstanding work!

And to address the "countdown" critique below, I imagine this being used in a movie so that beat taken was put in place so that the scene's tone could switch. It's a common technique put into all forms of media.

Irish-Soul responds:

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed this western soundtrack! I still have to talk with my co-director but I may post the film on youtube

Edit: I put the video in the description :)

[Empty Soul]

This is a fine instrumental. However, although the melody and the percussions sound eerie, it's the same repetitive sound and gets bland REALLY fast. Some suggestions I would make it to perhaps change the tempo of the percussions sometimes in the track or even better add something to increase the feeling of eeriness as with just the snare and kick it feels like it has very little emotion.

0DRONZER responds:

sadly i don't remember what samples i used to make this, but yeah it does get repetitive very fast i will try to remake it someday

[Ghost Dance - NGUAC 2020]

The sound of the guitar really complements the ocean and chill feeling this instrumental gives, the little chimes with it adds charm, the drums really get the beat going once they start synchronizing. The tempo switch and I'm assuming that's an 808 at 1:58 adding a new relaxing flow to the instrumental. The fade out was perfect as well!

Irish-Soul responds:

Thank you so much for the kind words! At 1:58 I took a synth from the kontakt factory library and edited it to sound like a theremin, an instrument typically used in sci-fi soundtracks and such.

[VirteX]

Catchy guitar pattern(s), excellent high hats to complement them, cool percussions, complementary clapping, the ghostly instrumental is fantastic. I found it pretty unique how you combined two loops and actually made them sound appealing. And excellent fade out. Terrific job!

MichaelConstanza responds:

Thanks the rest was done by me after the 2 loops ^^
Your feedback honestly helps me to improve about what to increase and improve in the future man thanks

[ViriXify]

Oh man, I REALLY need to learn some dubstep terminology. The synth lead was exhilarating and mixed with the modulated bass lines, it's a perfect way to set up the mood for the song. The clapping really added mood to the beat and the transitions were smooth. The different high hats really complemented them. The rise and drop of the bass mixed with the other instruments were really cool! And I love how you faded it out with reverb. I'm trying to learn a bit about music for appreciation reasons and I've huge improvements in your work man! Fantastic job!

MichaelConstanza responds:

Thanks man glad you like it

[The Battle for Hope]

I love the beat starts off at a slow relaxing tempo, piano buildup mixed with the "tetetete" adds a sense of wonder and the one-two clap is complementary to the beat. I enjoyed the 1:31 addition as it enhanced the anticipation. The percussion switch at 1:50 was flawless and really added to the flow of the instrumental with how much it shifted in between. 2:21's transition was smooth and the addition of the slow buildup of that "tetete" sound with the consistent ending was excellent. 2:42 the tiny clipping sound was definitely creative, kinda sounded like fingernail clipping a bit. 3:02 Did I hear a high hat added in? It gives me a tingling feeling. 3:57 you came back with a perfect transition leaving me anticipating. The "tetete" sound comes back and I can vaguely hear the nails in the background again. The wind instrument coming in and out at 4:58 really gives this a more rollercoaster ride feeling. And the background wind instruments and again the clipping adds to my anxiety. The blending of instrumentals into one another is proficient, but the flute ending seems kind of abrupt. You may want to gradually fade it out by syncing with the other instrumentals.

MichaelConstanza responds:

Ty for the feedback man

[Isotonix -- DisMay]

That piano makes it so sad. And the percussion and the "dedede" make the feeling so numb and unending. The transitions were VERY smooth. It kinda feels like an emotional adventure. The instrumentals mixing were always refreshing and adaptable. However, the bugs still lose a half star and the vibrations were kinda ear rapey. Even so, this was plausibly done.

MichaelConstanza responds:

Yeah kinda noticed that thanks so much for the advice