AlphaStormMusic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Army Of Two]

Always a good day when OceanPlanet uploads a new song!

Dude, that HD Pro X tone sounds sick! The cymbals and snare mask it a little bit, but having struggled to nail down these kinds of mixes my entire career in music, that's a very difficult balancing act!

Fun riffing grooves! As always, that early days Periphery influence of yours shining through. Almost sounds like an old Bulb demo actually. Though, I would like to reiterate, gotta do a better job transferring the energy from the quiet sections to the big sections. They're awesome already, but they can be even MORE awesome!

In any case, sick riffage! Sick vibes! Very well done!

All the best and take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

OceanPlanet responds:

Hey dooooooood!

So awesome to see you hear again! Thanks brotato, I've had this line 6 for years, been trying to upgrade to a quad cortex but it's literally worth more than my car so, yeah it's on the bucket list.

Don't you know it man, I swear I'm in Reaper and I'm like awesome sounds great, I export it and listen back, all of a sudden the kick is like up in your grill pounding you over the head with a live goat.

Ah man, you're right and I struggle with that, bringing songs back in with some balls is something I always fall short on. I'm not a major fan of too many sub drops but I think maybe it might be time. So glad you liked it though dude. I also checked out your tunes and they're proggy as hell!! Definitely reminds me of early Periphery/TesseracT stuff.

Hope you're well my guy, :) Have a lovely day mate!
Khi

[God Mode: Activated]

Haha, I wonder what song aside from the Cyberpunk 2077 theme inspired that intro riff xD

In all seriousness, good grooves here, mate! As always can hear the Bulb era Periphery and by consequence, the Meshuggah bleeding through, but that's always so much fun! Everything feels well placed, the riffs are heavy, the drums are punchy, tightness on the rhythms could be improved just slightly, but that's a tiny nitpick only I would notice.

The one big thing I have to say, you really gotta do like a noise build-up or something leading into that last drop. That could be absolutely explosive and an incredible moment live, but the energy transfer isn't as strong as it could be in its current state. Imagine it like a punch in a video game; the wind up and swing are what truly makes that punch feel satisfying and powerful. If the wind up and swing lasted just one frame, then it wouldn't feel as satisfying. It's not a deal breaker in its current state, but I found myself a tiny bit disappointed by that last drop because I didn't feel that explosion you wanted it to be.

That said, I need to find the nearest mountain, it needs to be fought! Well done, dude! This is killer!

All the best and take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

[The Battle For Andromeda]

Bro, I can't comment on unoriginality because I'm as much of a Periphery clone as Periphery is a Meshuggah clone. Still, this goes HARD! This is some of the coolest riffing I've heard! The only thing I really have to comment on is the kick, which I think could use more low end & brought up a touch, and the general tightness of the rhythm playing. But that's a lot of nitpicks that honestly aren't that egregious. Could probably do with vocals too, but even instrumental, you have such a killer track here!

Well done mate!
Earned yourself a follow! <3

All the best and take care!
~AlphaStorm

OceanPlanet responds:

Duuuuuude thank you so much for the constructive feedback, it's honestly so helpful to hear how others are hearing this mix for the first time. I went back and made some edits based on the changes you suggested, it does slap harder with a louder kick! I will get vocals on this, it's for our 3rd album which is almost done - can't wait to gig this track :). Checked your stuff out too, it's mega, love your sound my dude :D

Hope you're having a good day! <3
KhydroDjent/OceanPlanet

[Moonbeam]

It's kind of funny how distinctive the Waterflame and F-777 styles are, and they mesh so well! So killer to see the two of youse finally locking arms to make one of the most killer pieces I've heard for a while! Very well done, dudes, this was a great listen!

[Legend]

Really gives me a Perseverance vibe without sounding exactly like it! Very chill, mixed well, flows well too! Honestly, I don't have a lot to say, but it certainly didn't feel like six minutes! That's quite hard to do, so well done on that!

Well done!
Best and take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

OpenLight responds:

Thank you! I really appreciate your comments on my stuff!

That's a huge compliment saying it didn't feel like 6 minutes. I always worry longer songs will feel like a drag after a point, so I tried pretty hard to make this one stay interesting despite being just over 6 minutes.

Glad you enjoyed it!

[Odyssey]

That is one hell of a development. This is one of those songs I'd have in the background while I'm writing scripts, or playing some game where there's not much background noise. Musically, sound, not too distracting, hum-able. I love it!

From a mixing standpoint, well, there's not much to say. It's not a complicated piece, so the mix wouldn't be too crazy as a result. Everything blends well, everything sits nicely, nothing sounds like it's fighting for space. In fact, you didn't even go overboard by adding a limiter on the master channel for that loudness push. And I say that as a good thing, because, by and large, if a track is mixed well, it shouldn't need mastering, especially at the point of adding a limiter.

All-in-all, I really enjoyed this. Most of everything I said regarding mixing is just from a producers standpoint. That's one of those things I need to know how to turn off xD Makes it hard for me to enjoy music casually. But, I'll put that aside. 5/5 from me! Really enjoyed it!

Best and take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

OpenLight responds:

Thanks! Mixing is something I usually spend the most time on. I'm not the best at it, but I'm always trying to improve. I'm happy to hear it turned out ok for this one!

[-Octagon Force-]

Gotta say, this is certainly a worthy successor to what was, and still is, my favorite song by you tied with Clutterfunk Part 2. You definitely did a wonderful job. It all sounds pretty clean, but I understand that feeling of "What does this actually sound like? I've been listening to this for so long I can't hear anything else!" It's got a nice progression, good and varied parts. Leaning in a little towards too much going on, but I don't think it takes down the song too much.

Not a fan of that guitar-y synth at about 57 seconds. Well... let me clarify, being a guitarist who is extremely picky about a guitar's sound, I don't really like that particular synth you chose. Saying that though, I don't know if you intended it to be a guitar or not, it just sounded like one. And, anyway, for that 80s nostalgia, SEGA style sound, it works, it fits for the style you're trying to emulate.

I really like the bass sound. Again with that 80s-esque sound (a sound I've been searching for over several years actually). The leads are okay, again they work for the style, but again with my pickiness for how I want a synth to sound. The drums though... oh, wow the drums are easily my favorite sounding part of the whole piece. They're punchy and thick, and I love them.

All in all, a wonderful job. I can certainly hear in a few places what you meant about not being entirely happy, but it's still a super strong piece, and one of my favorites. 4/5! :D

Best and take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

[-Train to Nowhere-]

Proof if proof were needed that some of the most respected artists on this site don't always make masterpieces. They are human, after all, nothing is perfect. Not to say this is bad, it's a pretty chill track, it just feels like in needs something... more to it. Like it just feels kinda empty, and I can't place my finger on what's missing. Some kind of structure is needed to make it pop a bit more. The clips from the movies do something similar to what happened in Time Machine, but it needs a bit more melody to it. A few leads to carry a tune. Of course, it being an experimental track, it doesn't necessarily mean it was to be come a fully fleshed out idea. It's called an "experiment for a reason".

I wouldn't necessarily say this landed poorly, not at all, there are definitely some people who like it, I just think it needs more to it is all. It's fairly simple and not very long. It just kinda feels a little unfinished, really. For me this is in the realms of 3-3.5/5. I like the idea, it just needs more.

Best to you, and take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

[Dreamfight]

I thought the guitars sounded familiar. You did an excellent job making this. It's crunchy, fast, and it sounds great, an excellent melodic instrumental metal track. I would say the guitar needs to be a bit louder. The drums and piano kind of drown it out, so it's hard to hear what it's doing sometimes. That may be largely down to the scooped mid range. Not that you have to get rid of that sound, you'd just need to boost the volumes to make a scooped guitar work in a mix. The guitar itself is crunchy, so saying "I want the mid range boosted a bit" is really my own personal preference. It actually works fine in context of this mix.

The drums sound good, the pianos sound good too. I love the soft interlude section, although I think it could do with a small guitar solo in some capacity during it. Otherwise it sounds great. You did a fantastic job with it.

It may need a bit more mastering, it's not as punchy as it could be. A multiband comp and limiter on the master track, if used properly would do the trick. Otherwise, the rest of the mix sounds great! With all those bits I mentioned considered, 4/5! Keep at it!

Best to you, and take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

[-Megalopolis-]

Ooh, a nice chord progression in the beginning. I can't help but notice you have a habit of making insanely smooth transitions. You made a whole step scale walk-up towards the end work, as well as the whole step scale walk down in the first bit of the piece. It certainly takes a lot of talent and music theory knowledge to make the Whole Step scale work and not sound creepy, and by God you did that. I say you used the whole step scale, at the very least you used it in context of the chord progression, in terms of melodies, you used chord tones, etc., blah blah blah, music theory jargon, you made it work excellently.

As I always expect from you, energetic, well composed, excellent melodies, excellent harmony, very well mixed. Nothing seems particularly out of place, although I wish the kick was a teensy bit punchier, but hey, maybe that's just me. Love the snare drum particularly. Indeed is very eighties, and works very well for this piece. The guitars... I'll pretty much say while my tastes are different, in the context of a piece like this, they work. You don't necessarily want a stereotypical heavy metal style guitar tone. It can work, but I think what you decided on for this was exactly what you'd want for a song like this.

The song sounds like something in a racing game, like an overworld or track theme. I understand its purpose in context of other songs you've made, it just sounds kinda like that to me, hehe. Still, an excellent piece. Very fun, very bouncy. Does exactly what it needs to do, and more. 5/5 from me, excellent work! :)

Take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)