Back-From-Purgatory's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Duality - Slipknot cover]

I came for the boobs.

Also, this tickles my nostalgia bone, I haven't listened to Slipknot in ages, forgot how much I love this song.

Awesome job, now you just need to finish it. FOR THE MAGGOTS!

Bad-Man-Incorporated responds:

Cheers mang. Might do. Might do. glad ye dig!~

[The Umbrella Salesman]

Steampianist... y u so underrated. You deserve so many more fans than you have.

Handling that vocaloid like a boss. Excellent job. You are entering the NGADM this year, yes? If so, I very much look forward to your submissions.

Keep it up, you can't stay under appreciated forever, you're going places.

steampianist responds:

I dont know.... Lolz anyway

And yes I am entering NGADM looking forward to it and thanks for listening to our vocaloid song

[Negative Awareness]

I'm a little conflicted on this one... On one hand, I love the sounds you used, save that warbly, almost retro sounding pluck... I didn't like that one at all.

On the other hand, it felt very uninspired, while still having a few moments where it just felt right. It's a very confusing track. I suppose considering this was more or less a test of some plucks you made, it accomplishes its purpose quite nicely.

Although as a song, I would have loved to hear a bit more substance. I initially felt like I was on my way into a big house adventure, but then the big sound never really came but instead settled into a somewhat minimalistic and repetitive sound, which left me a little disappointed, as the intro leading up to it sounded excellent.

Long story short... I really like the plucks (Again, save that one warbly one around 1:40), but as a song, I was left wanting more.

Lethal-Input responds:

Oh yeah I'm not sure why I decided to add that chiptune sound in there either lol. It was very late at night when I was making it. When I decided to upload it the next day, it was already exported and I didn't feel like taking it out though. I'll probably come back to this melody someday and actually flesh it out like it should be. Thanks for the feedback!

[Northwing Horizon]

Has kind of a nostalgic feel to it, reminds me of those old racing games in the arcades (You know... back when arcades were still around).

Although I think you could have done a bit more to make the instruments mesh better. The lead guitar (?) felt really dry and loud in comparison to the rest of the track, and the delayed attack I think didn't help things much. The rhythm I thought was a bit too far in the background, there was only 1 or 2 spots where I could even really notice it was there in the first place.

The drums also felt really dry and a bit too loud (namely the snare). It was also pretty repetitive and didn't really seem to go anywhere.

Still, it had a certain charm to it that I can't deny, reminded me of some of those old arcade tunes.

Blacklawn responds:

I'd like to know what you mean by "dry". There's plenty of delay and reverb in the guitar, though you might be right about it being loud. I find it odd that you only noticed the rhythm guitar in a few spots, considering it was everywhere. It's also a problem when some people complain that the drums are not loud enough and then others come and say that it's too loud.

[Pride]

NGADM R.3 Review:

What I liked:
- Fantastic singing, never missed a note, never missed a beat.
- Awesome harmonies and group work going on all throughout.
- The percussion, when present, was really well done and felt really natural, and added a lot of enjoyment to the song.

What I didn't:
- At times, the song felt extremely empty when the percussion stopped. I think some ambient noise or textures could have gone a long way to help the song feel less empty when everything but your voice stopped.
- There were a couple times where the vocals inexplicably sounded very dry, around 1:54 is one of those times, during the "close to their mother" section.

Overall:
I really enjoyed what you did here, although I really think it needed some ambient texture or atmosphere going on in the background to fill in the empty space that occupied a lot of the track when the percussion stopped. And save a couple hiccups in mixing on the vocals, the rest of the song had excellent execution.

8/10

headphoamz responds:

Thanks Purgy! ^_^

[This is Not the End]

NGADM R.3 Review

What I liked:
- Great piano progression and sound.
- Strings, OMG the strings... so warm and rich and pretty.
- Overall atmosphere the song creates, very mellow, yet with a hint of tension throughout, it's a nice balance.

What I didn't:
- There needs to be something occupying the low end in this, it all seems to be stacked in the mid-high range with nothing down below, which I think made it feel a little less full than it should have.
- First half of the song was quite varied as far as how the piano played, key changes, rhythm changes, etc... but the second half felt a bit more lazy, as if you ran out of ideas and opted to go with a more generic melody to just fill out the rest of the song.

Overall:
Aside from a somewhat repetitious second half and the lack of low end, I really enjoyed this. How it creates an atmosphere both relaxing and somewhat tense at the same time I think is a great accomplishment.

8/10

ChronoNomad responds:

Thanks for the review, Purgy! Everyone seems to like pretty much the same things (which is awesome) and dislike the same things (not so much), so there's not really much to add response-wise at this point, but I hate to short-change someone who takes the time to leave a review, so...

I am happy to hear that the piano progressions and strings impressed pretty much all the judges, so that feels like a solid success. Knowing that the intended-yet-subtle tension can be felt also feels like a win, as that was the balance that I was aiming for. A sense of hopefulness. Or is it...? The end comes for us all, but to delay that for but a little while is still a victory. Therein lies the main theme.

I would love to have a better cello that I could have transposed down another octave, but it just didn't sound right with this one. Even now that I've spent hours getting new SoundFonts, I still have only a handful of nice cellos, which is a shame. Words like lazy, generic, and sloppy are basically anathema to me at this point, and there was certainly no intended laziness that went into the melody that seems so repetitious to everyone, so these kinds of comments are simply frustrating...or would be if I didn't feel nice and numb about it at this point. I tried building on top of a melody over time, but it just comes off as being repetitive to those in the judgment seats. So be it. Life goes on.

I am glad that everyone seemed to at least enjoy listening to this piece. That's quite heartening to know, and making it this far in the NGADM has been a very interesting learning experience. I really appreciate your time and it's very nice to know that the atmosphere comes off as being appropriately relaxing yet tense. Thanks again. :)

[Cthulhu Surfaces]

NGADM Round 2 Reviewz0rz

What I liked:
- Absolutely fantastic creation of atmosphere. I was impressed quite a bit by your use of instruments not just to create a song, but create a world around it.
- Composition was excellent, everything sounded natural, as if it could have been played live at something like Video Games Live.
- Everything about this just oozes personality. There's a story in the sound, and I get a little bit of a Nightmare Before Christmas vibe from it, mixed with something like... I dunno... something awesome.

What I didn't.... ?:
- Gonna be totally honest, I'm not sure what I didn't like... nor am I sure how I pulled a 9 out of my ass for this, cause it deserves better. This is arguably my favorite submission for Round 2.

Overall:
I'm at a loss to come up with something about this I didn't like... soooo... Good on ya. This was just downright awesome in every way. I did officially give you a 9, and I'm not sure why after listening to it again, but this deserves at least a 9.5... I soz.

9/10

headphoamz responds:

Wow, thanks BFP! And hey, no worries. I still really appreciate the 9, and the sentiment that it was your favorite definitely makes me very happy!
The Video Games Live reference is a huge compliment too, my goodness. Thank you ;__;

[Forgotten]

NGADM Round 2 Reviewz0rz

What I liked:
- Smooth, flowed throughout nicely.
- Chill, relaxing.
- Everything seemed to compliment the other instruments well.
- Never got repetitive.
-Nice melodies.

What I didn't:
- This track really, really, really needs percussion. If their omission was intended or not, I really think it could use some percussion regardless. There were quite a few points in the song where I could just hear a bass drum or bells wind up into another section... but it was only in my head.
- While it never got repetitive, I did think a few of the transitions could have used some work, a couple of them felt a little abrupt.

Overall:
Nice relaxing song, interesting and unique melodies... However, it really, really needs percussion, this was my biggest gripe about this song. I see no reason for percussion to not be included here.

8/10

ErikMcClure responds:

I deliberately did a song without percussion, but I would have been more willing to experiment with some light percussive elements in the background IF MY CPU WASN'T DYING

[In the end]

NGADM Round 2 Reviewz0rz

What I liked:
- Quite well played and arranged. Effective in simplicity. I'm a big fan of this theory, that something doesn't have to be an epic score with hundreds of instruments all strutting their stuff just for a song to be good.
- I love your piano sound.
- The ending section was quite something to listen to.. in a good way.

What I didn't:
- First and foremost, too short. I would have loved to hear this fleshed out a bit more.
- There isn't really a conclusive ending. It just sort of... stops... just as it's getting interesting.

Overall:
Great start to something that never really comes into its full potential. Still, I did really enjoy what was there.

9/10

BlazingDragon responds:

Wow, I find this review incredibly ironic. I consider you to probably be the strictest judge and yet you gave me the highest score. Other people seemed to hate the ending section, but you really liked it. Funny how people can have such different opinions about the same piece, right? Haha. :)

Thank you so much the review and all your work on the NGADM. It really makes me happy that someone enjoyed this piece!

[inside the machine]

NGADM Round 2 Reviewz0rz

What I liked:
- Funky headbobbing beat to it.
- Excellent synth work.
- Song flowed nicely, nice use of rises and "breaks".

What I didn't:
- Song just sort of starts off with the melody, there's not really any introduction aside from a quick fade in and then it's like, "Hello, we've already been introduced, here I am again!" from the melody.
- Mixing in a couple spots felt a little off, the quieter synth section near the middle in particular, before the drums cut out entirely, they felt quite overpowering.
- And I have to agree with Skye on the fade out ending, I always feel like this is a lazy way out rather than figuring out a clever way to give it a conclusive end, it just sort of fades off as if it should be saying "To Be Continued".

Overall:
Really poppy, jumpy synth work, the fact that it was constantly moving and more or less evolving made it a fun track to listen to. Although there were a couple issues with mixing, and the intro/outro could use a little work, I really enjoyed listening to this.

8/10

johnfn responds:

I mostly agree with your points, though I think its funny that you're upset the intro was too short because previously people were grumbling that the intro was too long! Seems like I'm pretty much hosed either way :p

Dynamics in breaks is one thing I've started paying a lot more attention to after this song, so good spot there.

Thanks for the review!