TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Clocks & Mandolin]

I like the bright tone of the guitars and the echo effects. The composition is a bit simplistic, but the sound design and mixing are top-notch. I especially like the parts with the fuller textures. The loop is pretty smooth, too. If I had to complain about something, it might be that the rhythm was a bit square throughout. Otherwise, enjoyable piece, Possibly! ^^

Possibly responds:

Cheers - appreciate the review.

Well, you don't HAVE to complain about something :D

[Blooming Nightshade (Remastered) in C]

I like the ominous-sounding riser at the beginning and the funky retro synths. The rhythmic content here is strong and the mix is crisp and well-balanced. The melodic content at the 1-minute mark is nice too, and I especially enjoy the frantic drums at the drop at 1:25. The atmospheric details of the piece are really eerie, and I'm digging the variations in the drop at 3:01. Really strong work here, NoisySundae! Brings me back to the sound of 2008-ish Newgrounds. :'D

Noisysundae responds:

"You're praising the 2015 me's composition. I got less creative than back then tbh. All these remasters are literally me trying to fill in what were missing in those earlier works of mine: Mixing/mastering. I think I should step up my game, find some inspiration, and continue the current WIP (new menu) very soon, thanks." — The Manager

[State of the Art]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning and the intricate rhythms at around :20. The occasional chromatic harmonies (like at :50) helped spice things up too. The piece could've been a bit more dynamic at times, but you also kept things engaging with the guitar solo at 1:40 and the chill breakdown thereafter. The editing at 2:45 or so might've needed a tad more work to synchronize everything properly, but the distorted guitars and energy during the last major phrase really help tie the piece together at the end. Overall nice work, MetalRenard! Glad to see you experimenting with some looser harmonies and such. ^_^

MetalRenard responds:

Thank you for the detailed review! You spoil me. I was planning on fixing that later but couldn't be bothered yet. Haha! You have good ears! I'll make sure to do it next time I open the project.

[Welcome To The Underworld]

I love the eerie textures at the beginning and the foreboding vocals and guitar riffs throughout. The gritty drone-like quality of the mini-piece at 1:40 is a highlight for me. The male vocals at the 3-minute mark are pretty evocative after the mostly female vocals during the first few pieces. I also really like when the female vocalist is low in her range, like at 4:05 or so. The string riffs at around 4:50 really penetrate through the texture, despite the continuous heavy atmosphere. I like the subtle swells at around 6:00 and the pitch-bending in the vocals at 6:18-ish. The details of this piece really add a lot of haunting goodies to an already haunting piece. Truly captivating work here, Vocif! Keep it up. ^_^

VociferousMusic responds:

Thanks as always :D

I took inspiration from both the games. The game Black & White does have two games. One is very different to the other in terms of gameplay and even the musical aspect. What I did is to try combinate both the styles and see what comes up, and this was the result. The BW1 track was more mysterious and slightly creepy (at least for a child). but the BW2 evil tracks were just purely horror-themed, like at ( 1:52; 4:15). I tried to reduce that, but not fully remove it. People who played the game found the original track to be too 'brutal' or 'intense' in terms of the creepy aspect.
The general oriental aspect of it is done because you play the greeks in the game - counts for both soundtracks (paradise and underworld).

Speaking for 'Paradise', the original didn't sound too peaceful and I tried push that up so you really feel like you are in a paradise without any worries. :P

[Open Your Heart To Me]

Nice to see a post from you, Adrean! Been a while. I like the powerful vocals and edgy guitars. Sometimes the balance is a little off, and as a result it's often hard to make out the lyrics, but I like the added distortion at around 1:40 and the throaty touch at around 2:40. The piece doesn't always have a ton of variety in the texture, between the languid flow of the vocals and the punchy guitars. By the 3-minute mark, I'm starting to really appreciate all the vocal layering and the positive message behind the chorus. Totally dig the sound design too. Keep it up, Adrean! ^^

ADR3-N responds:

Indeed it has! This was one of the files I managed to save off of my dead computer, unfortunately not in stem form, so I couldn't just slap it together and master it, and then call it good. I had to actually go in and use RX7. You're right, there's a LOT of bad balancing in the mix, the vocals are kinda muffled, and actually, it's so hard compressed in the file I touched, a lot of intricate detail in the chords and other synthesizers is lost, but I'm glad you dig it. Thanks for stopping by! I have a lot more time now than I've had in the past year with my career. Be sure and drop me a piece if you got something you'd like to show me :)

[Refresh Demo Song]

You're torturing me with this incredibly short work of art, 1f1. The melodies and sound design are lovely, and the atmosphere sounds really bright in tone and well-balanced. Seems like the piece as is would make a good loop, too. Give me a ping when you finish this. ^^

Onefin responds:

imagine finishing things

pfft

[Sleepy Catholic Cat's Goodnight Catholic Lullaby]

Wow, this song is VERY Catholic, lol. I like the smooth sax melodies and crisp drums. Sometimes, the piano hits sound a tad distorted, especially around :15. The cutesy refrain at :43 is great, and the way the vocals are mixed sounds really 1970s-ish. The cat solo at 1:25 was a little much for me tbh - that sample is pretty tinny and thin-sounding, tbh. Still, I gotta respect the comedic value of this piece. You're like a young Weird Al, LunacyEcho. XD Keep up the good work!

LunacyEcho responds:

this one just has reverb on e v e r y t h i n g (i think)

it actually originally started out as a lullaby but like everything else in my life it devolved pretty quickly

thanks for stopping byyy

[BRE@KOUT!!!]

Wow, this is really different from most of your other stuff! I love the catchy guitar riffs and crisp beats. Sometimes, the rhythm of the piece is a little hard to follow, especially before the melody comes in at :16. There's also some sort of distortion going on at around :10 - I'm not sure if that's a delay effect or what, but it sounds pretty unnatural. The piano breakdown at 1:10 was a nice touch, and the sound design here on the whole is really refreshing and neat. Keep it up, CG! ^^

ConnorGrail responds:

Thanks! Definitely took a lot of cues on rhythm, structure, and instrumentation from the JoJo soundtrack, which might explain why it is a little different than my completely original work. Glad you liked it

[Aztec Giant Battle]

Good to see you're back in 2020! I'm unfamiliar with the original, so I'm just going to speak indiscriminately about what I like and don't like. The percussion at the beginning really sets the scene, and I like the ominous woodwinds starting at around :40. The pacing is pretty gradual here, and I think there could've been more of a gradual sense of build into 1:21. That said, the production quality here is rather impressive, and I like the use of choirs and brass. It was refreshing to hear the piece reset itself at 2:27. Things really start coming together at around 3:15. I love the foreboding chords and thicker texture there. At around the same time, I think the staccato-y male choir samples start to get a bit overused. There's still a lot of storytelling and energy in this piece, but it doesn't quite have the same level of variety in the instrumentation that I'm used to hearing from you. A lot of the piece also feels pretty transient, with sections marked off with a series of stop-start transitions. Still, I really like the new sound design elements at around the 5-minute mark and the prominent strings riffs at 6:20. The return of the woodwinds at 7:27 is really nice. It finally feels like the battle is reaching a decisive victor. The final chord at 8:54 is great, too - you crafted the balance in the texture there between the choirs, drums, and winds really well. Overall, this piece still has a ton of variety and flavor. At times, I wish the arrangement was a little less choppy, but perhaps that's inherent to battle music and/or the original. Either way, this is an engrossing 9 minutes of music, Vocif! Keep up the good work. ^_^

VociferousMusic responds:

Hey. Thank you for your feedback as always. :)
Reason for less of variaty in this track is that I wanted to avoid that the music went too different from the original soundtrack. My actual goal was to re-make the game music and provide better qualitiy and intensity to the track (original was made in 2005, the quality standards were quite different back then). The staccato shouts also are elements the game used a lot, and are like a signature of the game. At the end this soundtrack will be used within a mod for the game and will replace the original game music. I did not really pay too much attention on the structure and transitions, since I only wanted it to fit the game and its situation, which is mostly based on warfare.