Cyberdevil's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - distance]

Really like the music in this! How it builds and progresses towards the end, with the whistling bit in particular - though it grows almost too sharp towards the end (the volume shift between start and finish is pretty high too)... it's both ambient and melancholy, with appreciatively deep piano especially during the higher parts of song. Seems to convey the atmosphere in the picture perfectly, or rather the atmosphere for that one particular person within the crowd. I imagine this in his mind, while everyone else cheers in joyous unison, their sounds ebbing out in his head, a voyage of thought...

The lyrics feel heartfelt and poetic, and worked well together even though I usually have a difficult time with things that don't rhyme. :) Reading it I felt words often seemed to clog together, like 'years that've gone by', instead of for example 'years that have gone', but when you sing it none of that seems a problem... great emphasis and pacing. Only the drawn out end bits with 'will never ever end' and 'maybe you see me this way' seem somewhat forced.

I also get the impression you sing with a bit of a whisper; a bit restricted. It's an interesting style, and though I wonder if it wouldn't be even more grandiose if you really opened up, somehow, it works well for this song, with that state of emotion it conveys. Clear and vibrant always, and especially with the latter parts, though since I notice you breathe quite often (for example the best *breath* that you *breath* can be) I'm curious if you really do diaphragm level breathing? You do seem like a pro but... if no that might really open up for longer/easier bridges and notes. Just something I wonder...

Overall this was beautiful! Music and song work together nicely and really paint that picture with a whole new layer of emotion.

-cd-

Troisnyx responds:

Thanks for the review!

I haven't had any professional training, but I've been doing my best in most cases to sing from the stomach / diaphragm. I don't always realise it, though. With this one, I think it was much harder to diaphragm-sing without basically projecting my voice out, giving it volume. Being asthmatic doesn't help that sort of singing either, so I wind up almost sighing for breath in softer passages like these. The softness came from someone suggesting to me to listen to Aimee Mann, and I got influenced by a bit of her stuff, in particular, "It's Not" -- and I hoped to convey that same breathless emotion, even if I'm no pro at it aaaaaaa

Any pointers to circumvent something like that would be appreciated. Glad you enjoyed the song! Thanks again!

[AIM - DRUGS]

Well this was definitely a more positive twist to that artwork than I'd expected. :) Didn't think it felt as wholly positive as this does, like an open and airy and awesome experience... but more so a disillusioning and degrading one. With the image I felt her consciousness was crumbling away, while here the clarity comes across so well. Total clarity. Don't relate to the drugs so much as a sense of: flying. Total euphoria. Running. Setting something in motion. But relatability to the image disconsidered this was awesome. An energetic and really pumped-up trance/dance/house track. Never gets dull. The wavy sound's a bit much sometimes, and bit high on the loudness, but otherwise all great! The sound's refreshingly sharp compared to most of the bass-heavy tracks of the type lately.

-cd-

ActualElf responds:

Hey Cyber!

Aye I did have a really uplifting and positive take on this, I saw the artwork as being really light-hearted and a little romanticized. I wanted to try and capture that feeling of a moment being so good you wanna freeze it, which is what the last drop/solo is all about.

The overly wavy sound is something I also really liked about this track myself, it could have been honed in but I'm fond of it, maybe because of the memories attached to the song and sentimentality rather than a critical thinking approach ahaha

This is one of the sounds I want to elaborate on in future, trying to achieve a really polished, pretty and glossy sound. Thanks a lot for another honest and critical review. Pointers, opinions and directions are invaluable - <3

[AIM - Calling]

An inspiring and spacey piece for a starry and equally inspiring painting! When the static starts fading in it's almost like a highway through the stars - traffic of the cosmos. Not as lonely and void of life as I thought but dynamic and full of voices. I like the wavy synth, and how it all jumps into the rhythm in that perfectly slow and spacey way. Really cool. It's like those girls calling out to the stars. Ambient, smooth, with well-blended vocals and a pretty spacey vibe. Though the melody doesn't change much throughout the voices help keep it fresh, and it's always flowing, always fluent and brewing with energy. I love the vibe but: think it would've been nice with some shifts in the beat too. Some moments of silence with the voices. Some more variation, somehow, amidst those loudest bits. Also really compressing the frequency range with the loudness levels there! I know it's a trend but: do feel the dynamics come across better without. Overall great work.

-cd-

5TanLey responds:

many thanks for your thoughts :)

[A.I.M. - Don't Look Down]

Really cool to find some music made for one of my old favorites! :D I've had that picture bookmarked since I first discovered it, and revisiting it with a new context like this was pretty fun, and interesting... I like the sinking feeling here, how it goes from the green and blue, spacey, mysterious, down to the warmth and wickedness that awaits below... the atmosphere really builds as it drops. I can see the image spanning down, down, as I listen to this. Really digging the beat too, but... somewhere along the line it stalls. Between one and two minutes in it feels like it's almost stuck on the way down, and the dubstep-monster sounds don't feel right. They don't really sound like a monster. It manages the sense of mystery perfectly in the beginning, but seems to have trouble moving from that to something else, and eventually it all just fades away. I loved the first third or so, but the ending... wish it would've gone a different way. I don't feel the fire, darkness or depth of that pit at all.

-cd-

[AIM - Something Evil In The Forest]

It's interesting to read the description as it's such a different interpretation than the one I drew from the piece! Not just the backstory, but also the sense of threat and darkness. The woods seemed, to me, more mysterious than sinister, more forgotten than relevant, yet enter this music and it's suddenly a very living and vivid place, the shadows creeping along the vines, the darkness twisting and fading as the sun moves with the trees, and the leaves rustle in the sinking darkness... it really paints a very ominous setting! Listening to this as I see the image I still don't feel the music in the visuals, but I do love how this plays out. I love the ambience and the sense of suspense, the beats that seem to form steps in the background, the rising, and fading, and creeping motions of the sound... it all builds up perfectly.

Until the point around three minutes it felt perfect, but the break there's a bit long, and silent, compared the brooding before it. After that it really changes, and rises, and goes into a pretty climatic phase before that whispering end... really nice work blending in sounds of nature with the music itself, and the break's really the only part that brings down that setting a bit. Masterful work.

-cd-

FateModified responds:

Hey thanks! I guess I have an overactive imagination sometimes... I saw the way the stones on the ground were arranged into circular patterns and the little wooden strange-shaped crosses and thought maybe it was actually a site where satanic rituals were carried out. I've been watching a lot of supernatural horror movies recently, and so maybe that's why my mind wandered in that direction. Plus, I love the music in horror movies with their dreamlike, creepy, or disturbing ambiences.

Perhaps I should have added something else in the break. I really liked the distant alarm-like wailing sound and in the end decided to let that be the focus during that part, just because of how eerie it sounded to me. What I hear in my music is often way different from what others hear, so it's great to get feedback like this.

Thank you so much for your review, cd. BTW, in case you don't remember, you are the one who first scouted me for the music portal back about 4 and 1/2 years ago when I uploaded my first song to Newgrounds. I was called "HelpThePoor" back then. It's great to hear from you again. :)

[Shanghai Sunrise]

I can definitely imagine that scene. :) Really has an eighties/nineties Asian cinema vibe to it... something like Hard Boiled. Feels like they don't make movies like that anymore but at least someone's making that type of music again! :D I like the ambience, the slow build-up... surprised I missed this thing last year. Really cool tribute. Jazzy, solo plucking, vibrant instruments all floating together in unison...

-cd-

S3C responds:

any more good 90s Kung-Fu flicks? seems like I've seen them all

you've actually heard this before, a year ago before it was published, along with a reel of other stuff ;) Thanks for the second listen and review!

[endK - Automaton Squad]

Watching the Butzbo loop while playing this... it sure gives a whole new impression. :D Should've had this open when I reviewed the art earlier too... it adds a lot. A sense of adventure. A positive excitement and sense of exploration! In itself the music feels a bit odd and jumpy - not energetic in a way that it's easy to just get into as is, but it definitely fits the cartoon style. I like the upbeat rhythm and refreshing sounds, jumpy as it is. Definitely a pretty unique piece! Real VG music too.

-cd-

endKmusic responds:

Thanks a lot for the review CD!
Glad you dig it. :)

[AIM - T-Rex Handshake]

That tension really keeps growing with a tenacity in this one! The style seems more House than the genres you mention even if I can definately feel the DnB/industrial beat. I like the gritty riffs, the continual pace, the constant build-up, and during the first break even some mighty orchestral tones before it kicks back into common gear again! Though it's pretty long I'm impressed how varied it is, too, and how it keeps growing and morphing as it moves along. I'm wondering if I'm a fan of the dips/wavy sound in some parts... but otherwise I'm digging this. Really getting into the energy as I listen. Getting heavy with the headbumping towards the end.

It has a tone of Middle East to it too. A ferocious beat. So many different inspirations and bits mixed in, and you don't really notice when they shift and move from one to the next. Really well done moving between pieces! If there are repetitive parts I don't notice them. It's a constant transformation from start to finish. Only bit I'm not as fond of is that ending. Just: too intense? Not sure what it is but it breaks the spell a bit. Otherwise all is perfect.

-cd-

ActualElf responds:

Woah, well first off let me thank you for such a thought out and critical review!

I always have an issue with labeling the genres of my music, partly due to my lack of specific and in depth knowledge of what the tick boxes are for each genre aside from the very basic idea. Also partly due to my music having been influenced by a lot of the music I listen to in massively contrasting styles so I tend to find difficulty honing in on what it's classified as.

I never noted the Eastern tone myself upon writing but now I can't not notice it after having it pointed out to me, lots of melodies locked into pentatonics alternating with phrygian dominant tonalities, I don't know how that thought didn't dawn on me sooner ahaha.

The ending is one of my favourite parts of the track, mainly because of me love of metal growing up. That said I totally get how it interrupts the audible flow and agree with you, there was a set vibe for most of the song before the climax and it switches that out for an attempt at pure aggression at the last minute. I hope the next time I write something like this I can manage to get the intensity I want without losing the picture and mood of the song.

It really means a lot what you said about the variation. Repetitiveness in my music is something I've always been conscious and self-conscious of as a big stand out flaw in my tracks. Repetitiveness was also something I was very conscious of when writing this, trying to fit in call-back motifs and development of ideas without melodies stagnating.

Thank you again for the time you took to listen and review, it's massively appreciated - <3