Cyberdevil's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Ones (Clubbin Remix)]

Haven't listened to a lot of Drill but I could definitely get into more of this...

I correlate the genre mainly to the UK, so it's cool to see it across borders like this. They brought me into electro too earlier on. Seems they have an affinity for chill; ambient kind of beats like this, but so does Russia apparently!

Nice clash between the bass and the high notes; icy little dots and awesome audial interference. Even the percussion has a smooth kind of shuffle to it.

Wonder if it really needs that ringing sound in the background all the way through, seems like a frequency you might not even pick up on... but maybe it does add something distinct; make it all sound richer overall.

Love the vibe. It gets a little repetitive and fades maybe a bit quick at the end, the structure overall feels a little simple, but I love the atmosphere. Dope work.

-cd-

[Undefeatable - Sonic Frontiers (Cover)]

Definitely a better vocal quality in this one! :D Though do feel like it could be mixed together with the music a bit more, it's like you can clearly differentiate between the layers, the backing instrumental, and the vocals in front, ideally they'd intermingle a bit more; become one and the same IMO... a bit like they do around the 1:43 part. Maybe they're just a little too loud overall, sometimes they're just perfect, sometimes they float over a bit...

Well, just my two cents, it's a tough balance. Overall what a banger. The guitar's so good here too, DragonForce level epic towards the end there, and it never slows. Dope work.

-cd-

[The Girl Who Died From a Broken Heart]

I can just imagine the lyrics to this as it plays, with this description it's almost like they write themselves; you hear the story as it plays, feels like good room for vocals...

Nice mix with the piano and guitar, works well with the theme, and the percussion sounds good when you hear it, though in the louder parts it kinda gets lost beneath the rest of the instrumentation...

Nice progression overall. Heartfelt and atmospheric. I like this...

-cd-

[Message To Self]

This goes haaaard! You've got the perfect voice for this, more numetal than punk maybe but that's what I grew up on too, reminds me of Adema and Limp Bizkit and all of those greats of the old days...

Lyrics a perfect match too. The music breaks at suitable intervals; the structure gives you a breather here and there but never so much you lose the alignment and energy...

Could maybe have a little less clipping on the voice but whatevs, it sounds amazing like this too! Love everything about this. Got that grit; that attitude; that energy all the way till the end. And though it's low and aggressive it's all but bland, vocals seem to take it to the next level.

-cd-

[Now You're Lost (FCDX)]

*you're :L

Apart from that typo the lyrics really aren't bad! They feel suitably cryptic for the genre, but still simple; easy to understand. Sometimes you don't need more than the one word. The vocals more than amplify the feelings; the instrumental backing fits in so well.

Around the 3:40 solo you hear the drums a lot, and I start wondering if maybe you could spiff them up a bit somehow, maybe have certain hits just a liiittle off beat as to make them feel less mechanical - apparently certain artists do. Though I suppose the pros don't miss a millisecond anyway. When you have hi-hats and all mixed in, an the percussion has a more complex arrangement, you never seem to get that mechanical impression either.

Love the background strings/synth (?) that coms in towards the end, the composition's great, the atmosphere's great, the mix overall could maybe be a little richer; less loud/more vibrant? I'm no expert but whenever I see that waveform wall I start wondering about frequency loss; what kind of nuances/reverb you may be missing out on.

Dope work!

-cd-

[derelict ERA 2k21]

Is this really bluegrass??? Sounds more like... electro maybe. Techno maybe. Ambience. A little dnb influences mixed in. Soothing and rich, but not really with the strings I'd associate with this particular genre...

The kicks are maybe a bit too loud, low frequency range, and other instruments very toned down in comparison - almost has an ASMR-like quality that way, but overall great sound. Atmospheric.

-cd-

[Garden Party]

What a classic. :)

I wonder if this was the first real swing kind of beat I heard, if I discovered before I listened to for example Caravan Palace and more modern electro swing... feels so nostalgic, but I'm not sure it's this particular track that makes me nostalgic or something else that sounds like it; the overall style.

It's a banger though! Love the sound; love the atmosphere. Quality maybe not tip top but it's an old file after all, solid compression...

-cd-

[Return]

Once again, wow. First the one of love, then here of grief... this speaks to me just as much as the other one did, and more, much more here, maybe since grief is closer to heart; love still seems somewhat a foreign concept. Really teared up listening to this, didn't expect to, somehow it opens old wounds; tears up feelings I probably thought I'd forgotten and locked away, losses I felt I'd overcome; potential losses yet to come that I fear for...

Strange though, since the notion of loss itself has little effect. I wonder if this melody reminds me of another; if there's a resemblance to the music with say a really sad scene in a movie I've seen, like maybe Grave of the Fireflies - though I don't recognize any similarity. What sound so effectively correlates to grief; why is there a connection here; would using the same notes or combination of notes bring forth the same feeling every time, is it the pace, the build, the instruments, does it require this particular composition to work as well as it does what's the key component... I wonder.

Don't dare listen to this again right now or I might start bawling, but I'll keep it mind for times I may need it. Feels cathartic. So sad, but so beautiful. If you have too much baggage stashed away maybe you can open the floodgates a bit with this; gain some solace or peace again; let go of that burden. Life goes on...

Curious to see if it has the same effect at a later time too... beautiful work.

-cd-

Phonometrologist responds:

You write much! Perhaps that is what suits you well in rapping since words in you seem to flow with ease.
Again, thank you for your contribution.
Since you brought up the question if melody, or some other aspect of music, may share the same language with other works to express loss, there may be a connection in how tension gets resolved in music. Whether it is done through harmonic structure, tempo, or even the arrangement, I think it could tie in with the motivation on how you would tell a story. But I wonder if one could hear loss in the music if I didn't provide a description to what contributed to my conceiving of it. I have my doubts if one would easily come to that conclusion unless one was able to experience first some kind of loss and meditate intently on the music.

Sometimes analyzing it in such a way is a mistake. I cannot explain it myself. I felt huge empathy for a friend in mourning. It felt as if I was mourning alongside him. I then played the piano with this harmonic structure in this tempo. Trying to accomplish writing for a certain mood would have surely tainted what was being felt earnestly in the moment.

Curious if it will have the same effect at a later time? I could tell you that it won't. These moments catch us off guard. If you go into it expecting to feel a certain way, it will certainly dissapoint. Music is a drug, and although grief over time may still be as powerful as the first time it hits you, the frequency of the waves will spread out over time.

[For Love is strong as Death]

I suppose when I think love song I think of something with a brighter sound, less minor tones/chords, something moving and beautiful, something large and rich... it starts in a way that sounds not much like the love song I was expecting, but as it builds it definitely gets there though. Choice of instrument's key, too. The background strings definitely add in a romantic element to it as well. It feels heartfelt, slow and sincere, as if it takes the time required to really map out and showcase the full range of feeling such a song needs to be true...

Love songs these days may really have been ruined by the radio though. They're false and flat compared to this. Catchy and contagious more so than truly depicting the depth of emotions something like this deserves... exceptions being the occasional musical, or song in a movie, or of course, anything that's not mainstream. There certainly are some lovely tributes out there.

Didn't think I'd find this that captivating either way, as I'm not currently in love, and correlate love songs to typical cheesiness, but this is masterful... magical... feels like something you'd well hear in a movie too. With those Hans Zimmer-like waves. So vibrant.

Would've been interesting with the verse in the song as well, but maybe that wouldn't have fit in. The instruments speak too. This was great. Don't listen much to classical normally but I think I should, makes for a special range of emotion...

-cd-

Phonometrologist responds:

Thank you for your contribution on the topic. I'll just further add to what you've already touched on, and that love is inseparable from loss. "...love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.”― Kahlil Gibran
Nothing lasts forever so even in the excitement of new love, I think of these things and try to appreciate each moment spent with whom I love.