Back-From-Purgatory's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[~SW~ Star Nuclei]

Kind of reminds me of Celldweller a little bit.

Like, ambient rock fusion, very atmospheric, yet upbeat... Kinda like something I'd imagine you'd hear in some kind of space station jazz club or something. Kind of soothing, in an "shit's going down" kind of way... if that could be called soothing at all. Liked the blend though.

I think the guitar could have been a tiny bit more prominent though, the acoustic bits fit well, but the distorted stuff seemed to be kind of buried.

Good listen, not something I'd listen to all the time, but definitely worth the listen.

[Of Epic Proportions]

I approve of this masterpiece.

That is all.

RobSoundtrack responds:

You rock Purgy

I have to have listened to it 1000 times
I still like it!

Everyone did fantastic

[Nice to Meet You Here]

NGADM 2 and stuff.

It's a shame you couldn't finish this, because most of this sounds really good. I was really impressed by the beginning, it was very well composed and nearly gave me shivers.
Unfortunately, after the first 40 seconds or so, it went downhill. The instruments felt like they were badly humanized and timed, and while the piano section sounds great on its own, it felt really out of place in comparison to the rest of the song, as everything else just sort of stops when the piano starts. And the last section... well, you said it yourself, it just sounds ugly.

I'd love to hear a reworked version of this, elaborating on the beginning section. It's unfortunate, but the second half did kind of undo the great feeling of the first. 6/10.

CheckeredZebra responds:

I'm glad you enjoyed the intro, that was my favorite part, haha. xD
A lot of the transitions I wanted to do simply didn't make it in (EG: the piano part was better planned). I completely understand your points, and honestly agree with all of them; as sad as it is, much of it wouldn't be an issue if I had been able to start sooner. xD

The beginning section was also going to be the end, by the way, only vamped up and all emotional and stuff. :V

[-*}CaSH{*- Etude]

NGADM 2 and stuff.

For what was here, this was really awesome to listen to, great sounds (Despite having your HDD stolen), mixed really well, and well composed. And the flavor of the whole thing felt very unique and had a lot of style to it. It all just felt very natural.
I do take issue with how it starts and ends though, there's really nothing to introduce the song, you open up the page, and it just goes... and sounds like you walked in on a song already in progress. And the ending sounds a lot like the opposite, as if you walked out mid song, as it doesn't really have a conclusive or satisfying end.

Still a great listen, despite the somewhat abrupt start and finish. 7.5/10.

[We are now in orbit]

NGADM 2 and stuff.

Mellow, pretty, soothing, and overall well done. I was a fan of those mini slides thrown in there on that pluck, added quite a bit of character to the song. I also enjoyed the processed (Reversed it sounds like?) stuff that went on in the background. And the overall feel of the song was very relaxing and easy to listen to.
Unfortunately, I think it suffers a bit from redundancy. While the song does move forward, it's in very, very small steps, and not enough to really differentiate the sections from each other enough to get rid of that nagging, "This is repetitive" thought.

Very pleasing to listen to, but in terms of progression, I felt it was a little lacking. 7.5/10.

[Get up n' Fight (NGADM)]

NGADM 2 and stuff.

It's like retro video game metal, I love it. The heavy driving drums fit really well into the song, and despite the somewhat bad quality samples, you made them work. It progressed well, and never really felt repetitive, and the entire thing just oozed a nostalgic feel of a game like F-Zero... Fast paced, up beat future retro style race music. Also enjoyed the slight 8 bit influence thrown in there as well.
That said, the guitar samples (I'm gonna go ahead and assume that's slayer) did take away from it a little bit in the beginning, not enough to be irritating, but enough to be noticeable. I also think overall, a little more could have been done on the mixing side to make it really come together.

Overall though, awesome song, fun to listen to. 8/10.

[Sinking Island]

NGADM 2 and stuff.

Fairly dynamic, some cool themes, pretty synths, decent mixing, although I found the entire track sounded a little... back there... Dunno how to explain, it all sounded slightly muffled to me. I like the overall theme of the track, but it didn't really seem to go anywhere, and was perpetually stuck in the mood it started in, which I think was due in no small part to the repetitive drum part, which IMO had a huge impact on the feeling of repetitiveness.

Decent theme, easy on the ears, although fairly forgettable IMHO. 7/10.

[Descent (MSB)]

NGADM 2 and stuff.

That vocal synth... orgasmic. Dunno how you do it, but this was absolutely fantastic, and it was nice to see you take on another genre instead of sticking to any particular one. And once again, I was greatly impressed, it had good flow, didn't really feel repetitive at all, and everything I thought worked together nicely. And I was very fond of that angry bass synth, I love stuff like that. As well as the little touches like a quick synth slide/drop between bars. And I have to mention the vocal synth again... cause it was just that awesome.

Really the only thing I would've liked to see is a section that took the song in a new direction briefly. While it's not overly repetitive, it does carry the same theme throughout the song without too much change, and while it works well for what it is, variety is always nice.

Awesome tune, vocal synth and the "angry" bass was orgasmic, keep it up! 9/10.

GrantBowtie responds:

Thanks man - I appreciate the detailed review!

[Children's Overture]

NGADM 2 and stuff.

A departure from your straight up piano pieces... but certainly not a bad one. I really like what you did here, very upbeat and cheery. Everything sounded natural instead of clearly sampled, and your use of dynamic velocity and a shift from soft and light to a more active and fleshed out song with the progressive inclusion of new instruments was done very well and felt very natural.
My only real complaint is that it doesn't feel as fleshed out as it could, I'm not sure what exactly is missing, but I think it'd be something in the lower end, as it seems to be pretty empty most of the song. And I think the percussion could be a tad more interesting as it's barely noticeable most of the time.

That aside, awesome work, glad to see you moving out into a new area in the competition, it paid off. 8.5/10