Leavesz's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Dola - Lust [2024 Remaster]]

hmmm, yes. breakcore without gabber kick.

[Estrella]

I love the sound design in this, sounds so crystaly, would totally be a fitting soundtrack for a meteor shower. I liked the delay effect on the drums in the breakdown at 01:38, it is simple but it makes an effective change of pace without losing rhythm. I feel like the arp sequence in the intro would make for a nice morning alarm, for some reason it reminds me of those kinds of jingles, just with a lot more heart put into it.

I guess it does feel a little abridged and it could use a bit more harmonic variation at times but it's a really nice track regardless. I enjoyed listening to it.

[Passage]

this is nice, would totally fit in a video game context. I really like the instrumentation here, that strummed chord synth has a really sparkly sound. it has a rather magical vibe to it.

[The Imperial Palace]

it really does sound like the kind of music that would play in a character select screen before battles in some rpg games. I like how uneasy it starts to get towards the end of the loop, it's a subtle contrast but it does give the composition a satisfying ending while also allowing it to loop back to the start rather seamlessly, what would be necessary in a videogame context.

don't have anything to complain about here, it's a really well produced track and I think it would serve its purpose as a game loop rather effectively. it's not my kind of music but I wouldn't mind hearing it in an rpg. melodically it does make me think of a palace in the desert, and seeing that's part of the song title I assume it was the intention behind it, and I think that's cool.

[Shrine of the Ancients Ver. A (NGUAC)]

this sort of orchestral music is not something I listen to often, outside of movie trailers or triple A videogame soundtracks, so I don't have much of a frame of reference to base any observations of off, but I do think it's a nice piece of music and I could easily hear it playing during the last moments of a story before the climax.

the production quality is also really good. I would say my favourite bit of this song is that calm section at around 02:07, the change of instrumentation & pace there creates a memorable contrast in the composition to my ears.

it may just be a nitpick but I think a little more dynamic variation couldn't hurt, right now every element is standing at about the same volume throughout the piece, probably wouldn't matter a lot as a game loop but it does feel a bit monotonous to hear the drums stay the same for 2 minutes, at least to me. for example, it would be nice to have a bit more of a buildup during the intro before 00:32 to help accentuate the following section, instead of just jumping straight into action.

last nitpick, it would've also been nice to have a b-section for that eerie piano motif in the second half of the song, it's probably fine as it is now but I feel like it could use a bit more of a resolutive variation for the ending.

anyway, this is not the kind of music I make or listen to so my criticism here is purely subjective, and I don't think there's anything objectively wrong with this piece as far as I can tell. it is a pretty well produced track and it does give off a strong pre climactic vibe, would totally fit into that kind of scenario in a videogame or movie sequence.

[ch 3 – ritual (ROUNDABOUT)]

this entire soundtrack is rather lovely and really fitting for the comic it was made for, reading through the pages I could easily tell how certain sounds aligned with certain visual cues, and it really shows there's a lot of care put into these various details that help connect the music and the artwork together in a way that makes them inseparable from one another.

I really do love this project as a whole, but I also do really like this track in particular due to the gentle noise buildup around the middle of it. that feedback noise is totally something that would be unnerving in the usual context I hear that stuff in (noise music, lol) but here thanks to the surrounding instrumentation it sounds more like a calm doubt, which is fitting for the chapter.

All in all this whole project is oddly heartwarming, and I really like how well sound and visuals synergize. <3

[Nautogen]

narutogen...

turquoisedeath responds:

dattebayo

[When it's to cold to wake up so you watch the world around you Freeze in Place]

this is nice, reminds me of some horror game soundscapes with that clever sample manipulation.

don't have much to criticize because for what it is I think it's perfectly fine and there's nothing objectively wrong with it (that I can tell at least), but since you asked for a review in the R4R thread I suppose I should get nitpicky anyway.

It gets a little tiring to hear the same thing repeat for 3 minutes with little variation throughout, and the little variation it does have is a little awkward sounding. specifically that one downbeat where hihats don't play, it sounds kinda off because it makes me think that the sudden stop of the hihat beat is hinting at a change of pace that will lead into a new section of the song but it never really does and the beat just starts again and everything keeps going like nothing really happened.

I guess it doesn't help that all sounds in this composition have a really organic quality, like it's actually being played live and all the instruments are being run through a pedalboard. if it were just obviously synthesized sounds with a couple filter sweeps here and there it probably wouldn't matter that much, to me at least, because unnatural repetition is kind of what sequencers and drum machines are inherently designed to do, so that repetition is expected in electronic music like trance or techno, but is not as welcome in more acoustic genres like jazz, or an ambient song like this one.

again, i don't believe it matters too much for what it is, but a change of pace in any of its elements or just a little b section for those melodies a minute in couldn't hurt. So my final opinionated score that's totally worth something is gonna have to be: 6.5/10.

[Temperamental Collapse]

mesmerizing chiptune melodies, intensely abrasive drum programming, meaningful song structuring & progression.

I luv this one. <3 <3 <3

[Glimpse of Eternity]

you don't usually find breakcore under the breakcore tag on this site, this is a welcome surprise in that regard; A nice (even if momentary) change of pace from generic 2-step ambient dnb.

I feel it starts off kind of awkward with the sound selection, and the release tail of the drum kit samples in the first half is a little off-putting in a genre where drums get chopped up to cartoonish degrees. I guess it doesn't help that all hits are playing at near max velocity the entire track, it would've been nice if programming were quieter and more dynamic during that 00:23 to 01:12 section, ramping up intensity before the beat drops at 01:13.

that aside this is pretty epic sounding, drum programming is nice and I like the chops in the second half. <3