Cyberdevil's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Rager - Ground Zero]

You really run into the song right away when it starts! I wonder if it wouldn't have been better with a more gradual beginning, short or no, just something that doesn't completely overwhelm you when it starts.

After that though, when the beat kicks in and the keyboards start running and everything builds and builds... it's pretty intense! :D Bouncing in my seat as I write this, really enjoying the ride and energy. It slows down in a way that doesn't break the focus or fluency, and keeps grinding away, phasing into similar but new patterns and percussion... it's hard to find any flaws here, but if there's something I' think it might be the beat. Considering it's such a fundamental part of DnB it might be nice with some form of change there. Though it alternates, there are so many alternations with the drums, and it always has the same backbone to it. A solo, or more noticeable change percussion-wise might bring it to the next level. That and possible one or more bridges, though I enjoy how consistent this is too.

Keep it going!

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[Hey! - Unheoly]

This is a pretty pompous piece! And orchestral in an uplifting way. I like the build-up, how it just keeps growing and growing, all the while with that steady, heavy beat in the background... like a march. Maybe a bit long a bridge after that, or too low, especially compared to how loud it gets after that (really cutting it close to the top on loudness), but overall sounds great. I liked the percussion in the first bit better than the second part too btw, bit more grind/authenticity, compared to the very audible and slow one toward the end. Either way nice work! I feel like the sound's all there, but maybe work a bit on structure, on keeping the builds and bridges flowing together more so than fading into one another, and a bit more balanced sound level. Good stuff.

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[We Are All Monsters (Industrial)]

A pretty beatly track! Ominous and masterfully brooding especially in the second part. I love that bit, around the 2:30 mark. Awesome build-up. The beginning hit a good groove but seems monotone and almost uplifting in comparison, not as dark as grimy, but it's rich in variation all the way. A natural and sometimes refreshing progression. Nice work!

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[Since We Fell Apart]

Always interesting to read the technical talk behind these tracks, even if I don't catch half the references. XD So much work seems to be involved with this one too... more than usual? Is this a normal work process for you?

I'm also a bit ambiguous about the background piano, and especially when it starts out it feels like it doesn't really sync with the rest of the music. It's a nice layer in regard to texture/softness/paranoia/something to both clash and float together with the main rage a bit, and yet I'm thinking in those rare moments where it's not as prevalent, or where the guitar slows down/gets melodic enough that it seems to match, that those bits sound if not better than a lot more organized; wholesome, somehow.

I like the unpredictability of it all though, and the savage energy! The guitar really brings that on, and I appreciate the solo-like bits in particular (around the two minute mark). Maybe it's appreciative because it's rare, and really breaks out of the track's heavy style overall, otherwise, but I'm wondering how it'd be with more like that. Also towards the very end of the track the guitar seems to lose some of its 'realness'. And as for the beginning: it does start a bit suddenly, though not with a bang but with a strange kind of fading in... some kind of build-up maybe? Or just an even more explosive start?

Overall it's a crazy mix, and what a story behind it! In a Volkswagen bus, on LittleMisfortune's computer, with affluent inspirations and styles all intertwined... I do like! Appreciate the shout-out, and looking forward to more interesting melodies like (or totally unlike) this! :D Maybe I'll be here in time for that sneak peek next time now...

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ADR3-N responds:

Just wanted to take a moment here to thank you for this review -- currently in the process of setting up new gear, so I should be able to start pumping out new projects very soon!

The story behind this track actually goes a lot deeper than I could explain in words, and indeed, it is a rage/vent piece. I'm glad that for the most part, despite obvious technical flaws like the piano/keys being too quiet, not quite rendering right, etc., it seems to work. Virtually everything you hear had to be replaced last minute when I lost Nexus keys, Massive, and my whole guitar library except for RealEight LOL. Shreddage sounded a lot better on most of those articulations.

You're right, I probably should focus on cleaning up my riffs and not stacking them with crazy jazz stuff. Although they were initially intended to supplement a vocal line cut clear over the top.

The mobile producing thing, yeah, for the past year it has roughly been the process just to go wherever and do music, including in the car on the aux cord, just to see what the music sounds like on commercial equipment.

I'm running out of things to say, but yeah, from now on, you'll have at least a week's worth sneak peek for any releases so long as you're a patron. Meantime feel free to lob suggestions as to what kind of projects you'd feel okay contributing to, what kind of special rewards you'd like to see, etc. :) I'm gonna update patreon soon to remove the 400 dollar laptop goal so we can actually get started on real important stuff!

[AIM - Sunken Streets]

Sounds like a pretty ambient and explorative piece! The water doesn'treally come across at the beginning, but past the two minute point you start noticing that too, and in a break the waves start reaching the shoreline too... it seems to move from the sunken world to land, and then down into the blue once again - or the murky green in this particular piece. The sound seems muffled, as it would be in a submarine, so you're portraying that pretty well too. It sounds great, overall, though the vibe I'm getting from it is more casual than mysterious, and towards the ends those shoreline breaks start distracting a little. That little part at the end sounds more like I imagined the whole track could've been like. Eerie, the sub bubbles trailing behind you as you explore the abyss... but either way really cool sound here. Thorough, but would've been nice with a bit more mystery; some kind of suspense to match the theme. Do like the hiphop style otherwise! Nujabes-like, which is great, just maybe not the optimal vibe for a long lost watery grave IMO.

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sro responds:

I feel ya man, I made the beginning as a contrast from the past to the fictional present. I guess the casual feeling is a play on how insignificant or ignorant we were to them.

Thanks for the review cyberdevil, didn't know you reviewed music too! Keep up the good work.

[AIM - Nostalgia goggles]

Definitely has a nostalgic VG-like tone to it! :D Interesting piece to choose too. I haven't played the game depicted therein, which I guess this audio might be somewhat inspired by, so I don't really catch the link between those, if there is one, but it does have a nostalgic tone to it I just can't place. Probably for that reason. It's pretty cool how you mix that with a more modern punk/pop alternation. Like a musical mashup between two tracks I know and I still can't place either one of them... the sound quality's smooth, it's not too loud or compressed, the variation's good, the pace steady, the style uplifting and fun. Overall just a real fun piece to listen too all the way through. Solid work.

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8-bitheroes responds:

Thanks for the feedback, glad to know you enjoyed it :)

[AIM - Grandeur]

Happy to see some of Kaolinn's work selected for one of these tracks! :) Agree, it's fantastic, and this music follows this particular piece really well, with such a soft and imaginative ambience and then... bam, blast of percussion kicking in... or not... despite the waveform it really keeps the peace, and ambience all the way through. Imaginative and airy. The break fits right in, too, with some creatively wonky beats right after. Awesome ambience all the way.

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[The Fallen]

A pretty ominous piece, but ambient too, mysterious, intriguing... I feel it goes well with the image. It captures the uncertainty of it,the vagueness, the feeling that something's off but you don't really know what. There's little build or change until the final phase, apart from the beat that accompanies you a while, but I don't miss the variation until the break, at that point... just not sure why it breaks. What happens. Does he meet his demise, and start falling again, faster and faster, an eternal loop on his spiraling road into oblivion? A bit strange, and low, a break, but otherwise I really like the vibe here. Eerie.

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CrystaluxX responds:

Thank you for your nice review! The song is meant to be tragic and dark and the one who falls in the dark wont come back to the light. ;)

[AIM - Music Identified]

Really chose a beautiful artpiece for this one! Reviewed that years ago and apparently started with 'So this is what you see when you feel the music'... so suitable. :D Dancing with wolves, with wings; with emotion... not getting those impressions with this, but more so the artists one I guess, focused on above, with shutting out the world and cranking up the volume. Can definitely picture that even if it's nothing I ever do. Doesn't seem to be a need to drown out the world, even if I love a good beat. The percussion's really heavy and unorthodox too, breaks, starts again, each stop and start with a somewhat satisfying zoom-kind of sound... it's pretty cool, even if the instability of it all also prevents me from really immersing myself in it and following the tune. I wonder if it'd be different with more than the percussion, or less pauses, or a more steady structure... whatever it is there's something there I'm missing,even though I'm real impressed with the smoothness of the sound overall, and the tribal undertones following the main hits, a lot more there than really meets the ear. Smooth intro too, and that occasional wooooo!

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Quarl responds:

Thanks for the kind words Mr. Devil. I think those "zooming sounds" you referred to were reversed snares and cymbals.

The cool thing about music is what it does for people regardless of genre or taste. I have a lot of friends that find death metal soothing, myself included. Criticism helps people find their way but I've been writing music for so long that I've kind of tuned it out while letting the sound do what it wants. I avoid comps because I always disagree with the judges. I've always felt like there was an easier way for the judges to say "we really prefer better genres. Try being a different artist next time."

[AIM-Red Blitz]

That ringing tone in the background... sounds like a telephone that someone just won't answer. XD After a while I think that part's really getting on my nerves... and the beat overall: very monotone. Same thing all over. The beat skips a bit, but little variation otherwise. The breaks come in, with a little bit of build-up before them, but they don't shift things around so much as break them up, and then something new starts. I feel the transitions and monotony are the big things to improve on here. Would be great if it could flow together without really taking a break every time a change is made. You do drop an instrument occasionally, or shift the beat a bit, or add in some build-up, but it's still very structured/expected progression, with a lot of the same between changes. I like the beginning and end but... overall not a huge fan. Maybe it's the melody too, or the choice of instruments. It has an ominous tone, and a punch, but is also just very repetitive and loud. Could imagine this in a fight scene though, boss level, Red Baron type... but as is not really getting into the groove.

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