Back-From-Purgatory's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Adventurous Redemption]

Very nice.

I'm quite impressed by this piece, the mood switches are practically seamless, and everything flows nicely together.

I only have a couple very minor issues, which could just be personal preference. First, I love the piano that was introduced early on in the song, it was very well played and I thought added a lot to that section of the song... But I was disappointed that that was about the only point in the song that a piano made an appearance after hearing that lovely melody it played early in the song.
Secondly, I felt that the quick run on what more or less sounds like a harp at 1:55 sounded very out of place. It sounded much to "8-bit video game-y" for the rest of the music to me.

Overall though, expertly done, this may very well make it onto my iTunes playlist.

reel2 responds:

Thanks you! Switching the mood is something I set in focus for this song. As a composer for film It's something I have to master.

The also like the piano piece, but It's melody is from my other song. This track and that one sort of fits together as a couple. They will all be on my new album coming out this fall on Spotify! :D

About the "8 bit VG harp" haha. It's actually a celesta. I tried going with a harp but I found myself liking this sound better. Thanks for your review!

[Tread Lightly, as This May Be]

Featured!

This song has a very unique feel to it, it has a rock feel despite the 4 to the floor drum pattern, and it pulls off the upbeat driven beat to mellow undertone feel very well.

My biggest complaint is that despite a few very interesting switch ups in the latter half of the song, it is more or less the same melody all the way through making it somewhat repetitive. I also feel the short little "break" at 2:40 could've used a little extra something to make it not feel so abrupt. As much as I love extreme switches like that, this one just seemed to be missing a little something.

That aside, very unique, and well worth more attention that it's getting, so I've gone ahead and featured it as my Song of the Week, gratz!

Kirbyfemur responds:

I'll probably go back to this one and mess with it a bit since i know i have both the abrupt and repetitiveness to my songs, but that seems to be my process, cause eventually in the end i will have changed it enough that there is little, or just enough repetition. Again thanks by the way :3

["The Guardians"]

I like.

First thought when I started listening to this was "Avatar"... It just has that vibe to it... However, listening some more, I also hear a bit of Dragonheart... Both soundtracks I enjoy beyond belief, so that would be a good thing that those two are the first that pop into my head.

And I absolutely love the drums, may be few and far between, but that makes them that much more epic.

Kudos! Keep up the good work, and good luck in the NGADM!

BrokenDeck responds:

Thx man. I re-worked those bombo-hanger drums a few times before settling on the version you hear here.

[Fear Angry]

Why

This is why I don't understand the people that think we're the same person... You can shred a hell of a lot better than I can... In fact, I can't shred... I just kind of hit random notes and hope it sounds good, but it ends up sounding more like a dying rat running around on my fretboard instead.

Awesome track though, kudos! One day I'll catch up to you!

Bad-Man-Incorporated responds:

haha, it would be a hell of a trick. However, I can't shred either. This is DanJohansen. That motherfucker can shred!!!!

One day, we will, brother. Thanks for the kudos and review!

[Settle]

Not bad

Very soothing, laid back track.

Although there seems to be a ridiculous amount of contrast between the vocals and guitar. I think you could do with a little less reverb on the vocals, don't be afraid to show your voice off instead of hiding it behind effects... Not to say don't use them... Reverb can add a lot to them, but I think this is a little much.

The guitar on the other hand I think is a little crisp and dry and could do with more post processing, a little reverb, and maybe a little EQing to cut down the treble a tiny bit.

I did, however, enjoy the subtle flute (It is a flute, right?) in the background, it's subtle, but it does add an extra layer to the song and wouldn't be quite the same without it. Although, I think it could be a little more active instead of just following the chord progression throughout.

In any case, definitely a good track, keep it up.

starcecil responds:

It's creepy how you picked out every aspect about this track that I thought was wrong with it as well XD Taking your advice to heart bro! Next track will be even better.

Yeah it's a flute, dude you have an amazing ear for instruments.

[Sole Beacon]

Love the music

... But the vocals make me fear for your vocal cords. I'm by no means a vocal coach, but from what I can hear, you aren't doing your growling properly, and it will bite you in the ass down the road. Not to say it sounds bad... It actually sounds pretty good.
Along with that, your clean vocals show you have a pretty good voice as well.

Biggest complaint, me fearing for your vocal cords aside, is that the intro is freaking awesome, but I feel that once the intro is done it dies down to a more cliché metal sound that I feel I've heard a million times before.

Although the transition between heavy and soft was pulled off nearly seamlessly, which can be difficult, so kudos for that. And I particularly loved the short "After twelve years... " section, it really brought back the feeling I got from the intro.

This has been a return review from yours truly, sorry it took so long, been rather busy lately... Keep up the good work!

abyss776 responds:

Thanks a lot for the review! As far as vocals go, I don't know whether I'm doing them right or wrong. All I know is that it doesn't hurt, and I've never lost my voice from doing this. My screams/growls are usually better sounding, but they were kind of off when I recorded this. Hopefully I'm not messing up my throat... =p

I understand what you're saying about the cliché metal sound. Unfortunately, my friend and I had to write and record all of the guitar riffs in about 3 hours. So, we lost a bit of the creativity that usually goes into that process.

Don't worry about taking so long. I didn't expect a return review anyway, but I really appreciate that you took the time to listen to this and to share your constructive criticism!

[Upward Over The Mountain]

Not bad

Pretty well played track, it definitely deserves better than the score it has received thusfar, so I've bumped you as much as I am able.

As for improvements, there is a fair amount of "wind noise" coming from the mic, I'd imagine you don't have a screen in front of your mic, so to avoid this, I'd advise singing at a slight angle to avoid breathing into it, should clear that up until you make/buy a screen for your vocal parts.
My only other complaint is that the vocals aren't quite loud enough, should boost them up to bring them to the front of the track.

And as an audio mod, I'm obliged to let you know you really should include who did the original in the case of covers. Just a tip should you choose to do any other covers.

Overall though, this was quite pleasing... laid back, well sung (Aside from being too quiet and the breathing noise), and pretty well played. Keep it up!

starcecil responds:

Thanks so much dude! I'll definitely get a screen or pop filter soon! Until then I'll make sure to sing at an angle and I'll definitely make the vocals louder. Thanks for all your suggestions!

[-td- Likeag6(dublooprmx)]

I like

I'm not huge on Dubstep, so any real helpful criticism from me is fairly unlikely... so I'll just point out what I enjoyed about it instead.

Overall it sounds really good, loops seamlessly, and I absolutely LOVED the underlying lead part that kicked in around 38 seconds in... It was subtle, but added an oh so sinister tone to it, and the next lead to kick in after that only complimented that shift even more.

Really my only complaint, and it is a fairly minor one as this is a loop, is the repetitiveness of the overlaying track, it doesn't really change throughout, leaving a tiny bit to be desired... But like I said, I'm aware this is a loop, and should be treated as such, so overall, a very minor complaint.

Also, sorry it took so long for me to get around to checking out your stuff, been real busy lately and I'm trying to catch up on my return reviews just now.

Overall, good stuff, keep it up!

Triented responds:

Thank-you for your excellent review! :D I certainly enjoyed reading this one, these are the kinds I look for :]

[MORE pipe organ metal]

Chills

Pipe organs always send chills down my spine, they're creepy.... yet eerily epic when put into a song with guitars.

This could be like... children of bodom shit... except better. Sounds very "Edward Scissorhands" to me.

Bad-Man-Incorporated responds:

Thanks very much, Glad you dig it.