TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Colors of Life]

Welp, took me way too long to review this! I really enjoy the whimsy and elegance of your orchestral compositions, Everratic. The melodies here are really lovely, and you do a great job of adding dynamic contrast and phrasing while maintaining a cohesive narrative arc. The production quality is excellent as usual, and the atmosphere and sound design of this one are particularly good. Keep it up, man! ^_^

Everratic responds:

Thank you for the nice review!

[Rite of the Woods - NGADM ROUND 3 (2021)]

Another one I'm sorry I missed the first time around. Again, very dreamy, like you're trying to capture a child's sense of wonder in a song. I love the gradual sense of climax over the first couple of minutes, and the woodwind melody at :45 is gorgeous. In fact, all of the sound design here really hits the spot, from the crisp strings to the subdued percussion to the evocative mallet riffs. The percussion really shines during the middle section of the piece - 2:10-3:00ish, before the woodwind melodies take over again. The transition at 3:38, while a bit abrupt, fits well with the narrative arc of the piece, and the modulation at 4:13 was a great way of driving the track home. Really great stuff, Elias! ^_^

[Squared Modern Nihilism]

Man, I keep forgetting to check out your new stuff! This is really dreamy and neat. A little eerie at times, but I can't decide if it's more majestic than eerie. Love the arpeggiated riff at :45 and the subtle build-up into 1:14. The sound design and atmosphere remind me of 1f1n1ty in his prime, and while the harmonic content is pretty simplistic at times, the textures and energy levels are well-varied enough to keep me engaged. The atmosphere is still probably my favorite part of the piece, though, and the production quality is great too. Strong work, dude! ^_^

[Tarot Girl]

I like the relaxed mood at the beginning and the muted percussion. The vocals also have a much more mellow and furtive tone than I'm used to hearing from you. At times, they come across as a tad mumbly, but that may be more of a mixing than a recording issue. I like the brighter tone at 1:46 and the minimal breakdown at 2:27. The spoken word bridge was especially nice - echo-y and mysterious, but also candid. Strong work, dude! I'm sure your client was happy. :)

[With Gun & Burger]

HAHAHA! Must've missed this one. I like the banjo, eagle screech, and other vocals. The variety of sound effects - car horns, roosters, guns, etc. - actually fit in with the overall sound design rather well. You guys thread the needle between opera house and Meemaw's front porch vibes brilliantly. The mixing and mastering is really good too, and the orchestral melodies really round out the piece well. I can totally picture this as the soundtrack to a country-themed action movie. Thoroughly amusing stuff, guys! ^_^

[Demon Slayer Cats OST]

Oh wow, what a collab! The tranquil mood at the beginning really sets the scene nicely, and the thick texture at around the one-minute mark has a great sense of energy about it. I wasn't quite ready for the transition at 1:23, and in general I think the arrangement here is a bit choppy, although some of the fairly abrupt transitions work pretty well - 2:45, for example. The prominent woodwinds at the 3-minute mark or so are beautiful, and the soaring melodies at 3:46 really help cement the strong narrative arc of the piece. I know that WF and pftq have done a number of neat collabs recently, but I'm really feeling Denny's influence on this one. This track feels both very cinematic and full of variety. The melodies during the "Victory" section were also lovely, and I think it was a wise choice to end with a piano section that has tons of emotional appeal. All around, really strong work here, fellas! ^_^

[(Club) Dedicated To All]

I like the pensive and airy piano riff at the beginning. The synth at :27 sounds like sighing. The progression is a bit slow-paced at first, but the flow is good and the production quality is solid. The sudden filter-out and re-intro at 1:18 felt a little unnecessary IMO, but I enjoyed the build-up into 1:49 nonetheless. The climax at 1:50 didn't add much in the way of novel harmonic content, and at some point I would've liked to hear some more dynamic melodies. The sound design is also a bit generic at times. That said, I'm really enjoying the atmosphere and the smooth transitions. The mid-range bass during the second drop helped add some variety to a piece that was otherwise borderline stale by the end. Overall, I'm impressed with the scale of this collab and the mixing and mastering, and I like how you brought it full-circle with the emotional piano riff at the end. Keep it up, guys! ^_^

EDIT: Okay, I now see that this is not really a giant collab, but merely a track with a LOT of inspiration. :)

X-ManOfficial responds:

Nice comment!

[-Body Panic-]

I really like the heavy bass and cheesy synth pads. Mixing and mastering is especially strong on this one IMO. The higher-pitched rhythmic synths just sound really sharp, and complement the punchy drums super well. The texture is a little thin compared to a lot of your other tracks, but it's still super catchy. The more melodic style at 3:03 is where the piece really wins me over, though. Now it's starting to sound more authentically like Waterflame. :D I like how you really show off the percussion at the little bridge at 4:20 or so, and the outro, while not adding much in the way of novel content, seemed like a fitting ending. Another groovy track, WF! Keep it up. ^_^

[Goa Codex]

I like the ominous mood at the beginning and the cool filtering effects on the synth bass. It's pretty minimal compared to most of your other tracks, but the atmospheric vocals at :55 add a nice melodic flair. The koto is a great touch, especially the frantic riff at 2:15 - it really marks the beginning of the climax of the piece during the middle section. At around the 4-minute mark, the drums don't quite pop through the mix enough for my tastes, but there's plenty of content to keep me engaged and drive the piece forward. Again, the vocals at 4:50ish really break up the pizzicato-y synth textures well. The transition at 7:30 where a lot of the dense atmospheric elements fall away was a bit sudden, though. The harmonic content in this piece is pretty repetitive, and at some point I think it would've been advisable to scale back the energy and do some more storytelling. That said, you guys nailed the sound design, atmosphere, and rhythmic content, and overall the production quality is also rather impressive considering how dense the mix is. Strong work! The piano riff at the end made me smile, too. Always looking forward to your next fruitful collab, WF and pftq! :D

[The Rain (2022)]

I like the prominent bass line and syncopations. The transition at :25 was a bit cheesy. Mixing and mastering are solid, though. The phrase structure gets a tad repetitive towards the end - feels almost cyclical in a way. But again, you nailed the mood, sound design, and vocals. The automated female voice was a good choice for the "bookends" of the piece. Solid work, man! Where can I listen to the full EP? Do you have a Bandcamp? :)