Cyberdevil's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[i'm sooo scared..!]

Daaammn what a quick build... and the way it starts with a video reel sound effect! Considering the title it feels like I'm jumping straight into a horror movie right there. Just watched Sinister, supposedly the scariest movie ever made, and the video reel element was a prominent part of that movie too, so that's suitable...

I do wish the music would switch up a bit more along the way though. The vocal sample shift a bit. Some kind of screams maybe? Something that goes a bit better with theme. All things considered it's a little tame, and the beat - despite the ominous overtone - starts getting occasionally a bit too upbeat along the way considering the theme.

I love the beat though; I love the style. The breaks. Everything about this. Just doesn't feel like it really amped up that scare potential and theme to the fullest.

I'm dead but you make want to live is a cool catchphrase though.

Dope work.

-cd-

itstdx responds:

woah, this is an amazing review man. thank u very much! i'll take ur points into consideration -as you're so right about the inconsistent changes in tone-! it's been a while since i made this kinda breakcore now, so i'll try to do so with your advice soon enough.

hope to see you again in my comments, thank you again! =)

[Tension Temple]

I could imagine this playing in something like Pokémon. :)

Feels like a familiar kind of style. Upbeat and adventurous, videogame style, with a psychedelic kind of background synth all the way, yet plenty of variation atop of that...

Lovely tune. Production quality feels just like it would for an older console too, pixel perfect.

-cd-

Kman465 responds:

Ah, funny you say Pokemon; a lot of my soundfonts actually come from Hoenn. The bass for example is the Pokemart! :P

If you liked this one, a lot of my recent tracks have been following suite in the same style.

Thanks for the kind words!

[赤い湖(Akai-Mizuumi)]

Atmospheric, interesting, different, with so many nuances even to what seems like simple sound, it's like it shifts from one instrument to another in a seamless way, I can't make sense of the instrumentation...

Yet it feels like it'd work better as a soundtrack or something than as music in itself. It doesn't really... reach anything. It feels ambient as a background would be. As something transient; something linked to something else. Something you'd applaud if you heard it in conjunction to a particularly haunting or brooding scene.

I could see this playing in something like Ghost in a Shell, or Oni...

The sound's amazing, by itself I find it hard to immerse myself in it though, maybe also because it's not constant. It comes and goes. Like a train. Like time. Like fleeting emotion.

Hope to see this in a scene somewhere, a movie or game, something that complements it fully.

-cd-

[Rhonda]

This is dome dope piano playing. :)

Plenty of reverb, and nothing else but the keys... it sounds real. Feels like you're sitting in front of a stage; really following a performance...

The melody's beautiful too, the keys flutter, the pace slows, it's like you follow some kind of conclusion towards the end, something unfortunate, a death, an accident, an end... and then it does end. I did not read the description before I started writing this btw! The fact that it's for an actual funeral, and your mom's no less... damn... so sorry for your loss. I can't even imagine what it'd be like to lose someone so close, yet it is a thing we all must go through eventually... good to hear you're better; hopefully this becomes a positive memory in time, a catharsis that becomes more so familiarity; a memento of the person she was...

I wish it'd go through somewhat more motions before the track gets to end, from a purely compositional standpoint; that it wouldn't follow the same base chords all the way, but it does feel pure the way it does. Like a theme song of sorts.

Beautiful work.

-cd-

[Silk Wrapped Mothberry]

What a descriptive title. :) The monotony of the tune... it's like you're just waiting for a cocoon to break too. Then instrumentation with Eastern influences, silky.

Unfortunately it does get a bit monotone though IMO! And the way the different instrumental layers play atop each others, though at a different pace... is pretty cool initially, but after a while starts to feel badly timed to me. Like you wait either for a break or for a build, something to bring everything together; something to align or expand everything, yet it never really does, it stays slightly out of tune, never going in unison... though it may be the layers are just a similar loudness, and so you focus on both, may be different if one was more in back; the other the central part of the mix.

I love the concept; the style, unfortunately the composition's just feels a little lackluster and simple to me. Feels like it needs... something more. Some more variation at least.

Keep up the good stuff! I do love the vibe.

-cd-

Tyhond responds:

Thanks :3 It's old soundtrack and I've gotten better now.

[Morning Jam]

Imagine waking up in the morning to this. :)

It started well even without the brass, a fun; jivey; lovely; vibey kind of compote, but when that part kicks in... and the synth after that, this was so wholesome.

The drum feels a little loud maybe compared to the rest of the instruments, and machine-like in timing. Compared to the other instrumentation I feel like that's maybe the weak link here. It's just a little too mechanic; a little too monotone, even if the occasional rolls are delicious there too.

Mix quality could probably be a bit more vibrant, but then again this saturated kind of recording sound, that vinyl-like buzz in back, does match the style well. Feels like an old recording, as I suppose it's meant to emulate too.

Dope jam. It's short but so good, food for the soul... been playing this on repeat a while now.

-cd-

[Obscurity]

What an ominous intro... feels like something straight out of a horror movie for a while there, then suddenly it gets upbeat, then chill... what a rollercoaster of vibes and emotions this one was!

The ominous tone comes back again, but fades quickly. We get a brief electric guitar section, an awesome rolling piano, some indecipherable vocal or synth hits in the back, that trail and transition in a cool way... all with an appreciative pace and energy, and breaks in the midst.

I particularly like the trip-hop kind of dnb session that comes in towards the end, but just at the end! That would've been a cool re-occurring element. :)

Overall a really cool tone, production quality's on point, sound's vibrant yet bassy, the progression's surprising and refreshing, with plenty of air time along the way... it's a vibe all the way. The chill parts are mesmerizing really.

If there's anything that feels left out maybe it's some kind of finale; something it builds towards, it bridges different sections in a nice way, but always falls back into a familiar beat; pattern.

Dope work. Love this sound.

-cd-

[Shane face]

Spacey... in a nostalgic kind of way.

It starts off like an exploration movie of the old days. Someone venturing out to the stars. Looking for new life. A futuristic vessel, a flagship of humankind, on a venture for aliens and adventure. Powerful.

I love the build initially, with the bops and beeps and atmosphere, and how intense everything stays thereafter. The synth is a welcome addition, in layers, sounds like there's maybe some guitar there too, the pace grows, the rockets or jets or whatever kind of boosters (?) that seem sampled throughout are a cool addition as well, though they do somewhat seem to disrupt the music a bit. It's like a relevant but re-occurring disturbance throughout, that comes in at sometimes frustratingly frequent intervals.

The first time it jets in caught me off guard too. A bit loud then, compared to the music overall.

The composition overall feels like maybe the one weakness with this song, with both that continual disruption, and how it never really breaks pace or rhythm, though the intensity and volume goes down occasionally; the instrumentation changes too, it never really breaks form, the structure's the same throughout.

The sound design overall is amazing, and I love the move from synth to strings towards the end of it too. It's like it moves through time somewhat, like it's a venture not just through space but trends and genres - an evolution of the audio odyssey in parallel with the planetary one.

Really enjoyed this one. Unique, spacey, atmospheric and energetic in an awesome kind of way. It's both hopeful and melancholy somehow, as space travel seems to be... I like the sound quality shift towards the end too, with the added clarity, though it ends a bit abruptly after that.

And the name hmm, what does it mean? Interesting name.

-cd-

[ADR3-N / 10 / A200]

Such a good podcast. :) Awesome you actually use pretty much the exact same recording setup! And there's so much good stuff in this, both life advice and experiences and pure unadulterated NG historia and nostalgia... thanks for them answers too; obscure NG trivia.

You've been exposed to some wild stuff through those early years here huh AD! I wonder if the Internet is getting better or worse though. Content-wise at least the content we had earlier was actual content, now with the gen alpha skibbidipi toilet and what-not shots though... where is this all going, is the Internet still progressing and growing or will it go the same way as NG General some day, just devolve into shitposts, memery and matterless mannerless madness... it may not be as violent or sexual yet I'm not sure this is better, what's the purpose now, edgy or deranged or mindless and strange. Which is most cognitively enhancing and useful...

...at least NG's still holding the fort huh! Plenty of sensible creativity of all sorts to go around here. And podcasts that last almost an exact 4:20. :P

Props on managing the red thread surprisingly well throughout too Adrean, despite the early warning this'd be all over the place it doesn't seem like it was! Subject detours albeit there may be they all seemed like natural detours.

Guess I'm a have to [I forget the word - some unusual one in audio context mentioned in an entertaining manner somewhere herein] some of your audio too some day @Aalasteir. :P

Good stuff y'all! And @TheShokBlok on the visuals as always! Starting to take the art for granted I think... it's always on point though. Profile perfect.

-cd-

ADR3-N responds:

I love me some internet historiography! It was sure a different place 10 years ago, miles more so than today where everything somehow feels cookie cutter, even if it isn't all AI generated yet!

I actually do like skibbidi toilet -- I think it's one of the finest memes of its era, to the point it's developed an entire story and community. Certified best shitpost. Brings back the good old G'mod days imo, and the creator does spectacular skits and stories to breathe life into it. I think this style is a hangover from the old internet, where we would sit around and read creepypastas while chatting IM and so on.

I'm most concerned the internet will turn into a bunch of AI advertisements and influencers, completely censored, with only private telegrams, discords, and their analogues as the places humans try to hide lol. It feels much smaller already than it did when I first discovered the internet, when StumbleUpon was a massive trove of intrigue, and now instead of going there and to all those strange sites for our amusement, we turn to YT, NG, snapchat, facebook, and so on. The internet is now... quaint. Boring.

It's thanks to Aalasteir's great editing that the interview didn't go completely off the rails. Some of these questions and answers were TOTALLY all over the place.

Thanks for tuning in!

EDIT: I removed like 4 occurrences of the word "actually," because I'm factually liable to say it every 3 sentences when I get excited LOL

[Koibs / 11 / A200]

Thanks for the answers. :) I wish I'd opted for a simpler name myself looking back, but once you choose one it's with you forever!!! Alas. You got a good one at least. Easy to remember. Easy to speak. And it makes you wonder... if there's something underneath. Something beaming. Some hidden secret or meaning... seems you have plenty of history with the site too, I thought you were relatively new here!

And hey I started with Apple as well. XD Though eventually succumbed to... the cheaper side! Or rather the side with a pricing that better balances the functionality you get with the price you pay for it IMHO. Though Apple's awesome. How you like them apples? Pretty well.

nigahiga! :D 'The Best Joke Ever' comes to mind...

Great interview y'all. This was fun to listen to. A fluent, always entertaining and occasionally also enlightening/thoughtful convo all the way through.

Props @TheShokBlok too on that FNF style and potentially somewhat babified but very smooth looking @Koibs cover art. :P

Good stuff all!

-cd-

Aalasteir responds:

@Cyberdevil your name is great! I'm always happy to see you! As long as the Apples are not Pink Lady! I didn't know you started on an Apple computer. 'The Best Joke Ever' ! I remember when you introduced me to the video—thank you, it is really funny.

You Are Truly Awesome!