Back-From-Purgatory's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Outside the Atmosphere]

Purdy...

Unique... I like it. Mixing a classical type feel with electronic music I think was a great idea, and not enough people do this.
I was quite fond of the pianos progression and how it interacted with the electronic instruments, it felt very natural. And that synth at 3:36, while short lived... Fantastic, if slightly biting.

Complaints... Drums... they're very dry, and contrasts in a bad way with the rest of the song. I also wasn't really fond of how you mixed the piano, it sounded like you ran it through a retro loudspeaker or something, sounded grainy and underwhelming, which was a shame because it really was the main focus for the majority of the song, and it just didn't seem to be seated properly into the song.

So, yeah... I like the idea behind this song, mixing up a piano with electronic instruments, and it didn't sound horrible. Mixing could've been better however. 7/10.

OpenLight responds:

Thanks for the review! Hopefully my next track is better.

[XS - Leaving (Audio DM 1)]

Needs elaboration!

For starters... I really liked the piano in this song... it was very beautiful, and I thought well composed. I was also quite fond of the "slidy synth" that came in around around the 2 min mark, thought that was a cool addition to what you had running before that.

However... This song suffers from a really, really bad case of repetitiveness... the piano part may be pretty, but it's repeated pretty much identically throughout the entire song. The only real variations in the song were brought about by how the beat changed, and that wasn't really enough to keep me interested. And while I liked the slide synth... I think it was a bit too quiet.
If this had been a backing track to a movie or something, I think it'd work great, but on its own, it really needs to go somewhere instead of repeating the same melody throughout the entire song.

So yeah... I really liked the idea behind this one... but the ridiculously repetitive nature of it really hurt the score I gave it. 5/10.

[Sonik - Sy's Law (NGADM)]

Progressive... House.... Prouse..?

For what's here, I think it sounds really nice, everything sounds like you'd expect it to, and nothing really forcefully steals the spotlight from anything else. And I think this'd be a great opening for a house show to get everyone warmed up.. so to speak.

Unfortunately, this is horribly repetitive and by the end... honestly, I was bored out of my mind. I know Progressive House is supposed to be like "Build ups!!!!"... but I think you over did it on this one. The build ups were cool and everything, but nothing ever followed them... except another build up. I kept expecting some awesome rise in the music to do the build up justice, but it never came... the song ended, and I was left entirely unfulfilled.

Overall... sounded nice, but never really went anywhere. 6.5/10

[Insurgent [MSB] (NGADM)]

Ooo ee ah ooo ah ooo eee ooo ah....

Gotta say, that very daft punk style vocally synth was greatly amusing and in a strange way, fit right into the song... In fact, there was a lot of vocal type synth stuff going on in this, and I thought it was great.
Better yet, it's dubstep... but not shitty cliche dubstep... It's not overly gritty and trying too hard to be "hardcore" so to speak.. which is great, cause I absolutely hate dubstep where the main goal of the songs creation is to be as irritating as possible. This is far from that, and you gained points for it. I also thought it sounded unique in it's own right when compared to most "melodic dubstep" (as I call it).

Complaints? Not many actually, I'm terrible at writing dubstep... so coming up with constructive criticism for this is difficult for me... But here I go anyways... The biggest complaint I really have is that it is a bit repetitive, not enough to really ruin the song, but there is a lot of reusage going on in here I found.
Next up is I thought the wobble bass could have used a little more character, as among what else is going on in the song, I found the bass itself to be largely forgettable and kind of taking a backseat to everything else.

That's all I can really come up with on this one honestly... either way, was a pleasure to listen to, got an 8/10 from me.

GrantBowtie responds:

Variety is a hard thing. Thanks for such a constructive review.

[Recalcitrate [WIP]]

Unce unce unce unceunceunce unce unce unce....

I like what you did with this, everything more or less sounds nice, and it sounds pretty well mixed (Save a thing here and there), and while not really overly original, it was different enough to keep me interested.

Complaints... It's horrendously repetitive, aside from the section at about 2:20... the entire song is practically the same thing with slight variations, and those variations aren't enough to make it feel like the song was progressing at all. I also think the kick was a tad bit too loud as it tended to drown out a lot of the quieter synths.
I also have an issue with reverb in this one, most notably on the "lead synth", which is most noticeable in the "slow section" at 2:20, I think the reverb and delay should have maybe been turned down just a hair.

That said, I like what was there, but the overly repetitive nature of the track really killed it for me. 5/10.

[Masq - The Finale]

Peekaboo!

Atmospheric and... that's about it.

I didn't understand this at all, sure, the pads sound nice, a piano solo comes out of nowhere, then fades back into nothing very shortly after back into random atmospheric noises, then out of nowhere some really dirty grunge style dubstep pops up to say, "HELLO!"... This just didn't make any sense to me at all, it didn't really have any direction. Maybe if it was behind something in a soundtrack, it'd make more sense, but on it's own, I can't really find a whole lot to like about it.

Nice effort, but got a 3/10 from me.

[Flashbacks]

I can see forever... (I'm running out of things to say!)

I found this song to be actually quite interesting, as it has no real discernible melody and sounds a lot more like a live improve you'd hear at an open stage bar or something. I also found it quite unique, it doesn't really sound like something you could listen to and say, "Hey, this sounds like...." Which I found to be a big plus.
I was quite fond of the slightly dirty guitar sound throughout, gave the song some character and overall carried on the theme of the song without devolving into technical wankery.
Also very easy to listen to.

Downside... this is very, very repetitive. The "drums" don't really change at all throughout the entire song and kind of amplifies the repetitiveness. I also think a little more could have been done with the pads in the background, from what I can tell, they don't really move beyond 2 notes the entire way through, which again, added to the repetitive nature. Honestly, after a while, it became quite boring to listen to.
I also take issue with the ending, it doesn't really build up to the end... the end just... Happens. It's like, I'm here one moment, gone the next. Feel like something more could have been done to make the ending feel a bit more natural and less abrupt.

Overall, cool to listen to the first 2-3 times, but after that, the repetitive nature makes it more of a chore. 7/10.

[Impromptu - Spring]

I'm very pleased to see this in the contest...

I am a HUGE fan of this kind of music, it's soothing, it's beautiful, it's just all around awesome. And this is certainly no exception. You did a fantastic job with this, it's played well, it sounds good, and it's a great pleasure to listen to.
And the lift with the percussion and strings near the end was a very nice treat, even if short lived.

My complaints here are fairly minor... but complaints nonetheless...
First being that the section with the strings/percussion is too short lived, it just sort of comes out of nowhere, then a few seconds later it's done, and it left me a little disappointed that you didn't elaborate on it.
I also noticed that this sounds VERY familiar... I have been learning a song of which the main melody is eerily similar to the passage at 1:15 through about 1:30... I can't remember the name of the song off the top of my head... Although I didn't dock you points for it, because it could very well just be a coincidence.

Regardless, absolutely beautiful, I enjoyed this a lot. 8/10.

BlazingDragon responds:

Thanks for the thoughtful review, and my apologies for taking so long to respond!

You are right about the string/percussion part toward the end. It was something of a last minute decision, and the piece probably would have benefited from a bit more length and elaboration on that part. As far as the part at 1:15, it is very possible that I was subconsciously ripping off someone else, but I'm not really sure.

Thanks again for the kind words.

[-Rupture-]

It's gonna get me!!!

Fantastic work, there was very little about this that I didn't like, I'm quite impressed.
The ambiance and forced imagery of this song is the stuff nightmares are made of... In a good way. The way it builds up and just "explodes" at around 2:26 is nothing short of epic, gave me chills.
The use of both orchestral and electronic instruments I think was pulled off nearly flawlessly, never did they really clash and outshine one another, it all felt very natural, as if they were made to be together. Really, it kind of reminds me of some of the stuff you'd hear from Celldweller or Blue Stahli... except arguably more epic.

Really, the only complaint I can come up with on this song is that it might take a little too long to build up to that explosion of awesome at 2:26. If this had been in the background of some kind of fight scene in a movie and it followed the progression of the action, it would be perfect, and wouldn't be an issue, but on it's own, I feel it takes a little too long to really get going.

When it does though, overall, fantastic track, I may even download this and put it on my personal playlist. 8/10.

Waterflame responds:

Thank you for the great review! i actually agree with your points of improvement. and thanks for the kind words!

[This is where it ends]

It's ok, I still love you...

A wild writers block has appeared! I really could see this becoming something better... but I can also really hear the writers block in it as well... On the plus side, I liked the strings, the driving beat, and the soft synth going behind the strings... But aside from that, there's really not much going on here.

Obviously I think it should be longer, and overall it does sound like it was rushed and a bit panicky... Which I can't really fault you for. I do think the drums are ever so slightly too loud as well.

But I can't really find much more to comment on... so, nice effort... 4.5/10.