Reviews
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This starts pretty metal just like one would expect from the title, what kinda synthy thingy is that? I think it’s buried enough that I can’t tell what it’s supposed to be doing which makes it sound kinda awkward as a whole. Rest of the band sounds fucking solid though. Oooooohhh hell yeah ⅞ groove!! I LOVE THAT SHIT. Great awesome guitar playing. Lots of power in the vocal performance and it’s mixed very clearly front and center, though I’d add more reverb to it to mesh better with the instrumental. It’s also sorely missing some harmonizations. For an 8+ minute track it does get a little samey a lot of the time but the flow and transitions are pretty well done and it keeps sounding like one cohesive song. The Opeth break at 5:20 on the other hand comes out of fucking nowhere, transition wise, though it does sound pretty beautiful. That lead solo towards the end tasty as fuck. My only real gripe is that the structure is kinda off with the acoustic break, it’s not built up or transitioned well at all and it kinda feels like 2 different songs. That’s however a minor nitpick in an otherwise really enjoyable track.
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Beeg hits on that start. Sounds like an amped reed organ? A little goofy but it’s very CV-coded. Yoooooooo Demon Castle Pinnacle in 7/8?? And then 12/8?? Who hurt you, anon? 😭
Gang vocal af on the verses, cool groove. WHAT the chorus is the 7/8 bit… okay we get it anon, you like Pink Floyd and Opeth and King Crimson.
Organ solo is neat, turns that other Demon Castle Pinnacle riff on its head.
Hard cut to acoustic break, very Opeth. Sounds like A Fleeting Respite but in 6/8 – very prog, much time signature. Back to DCP with those weird stabs AND YOOOO FLEETING RESPITE OUTRO. Beeg whoas, like a power metal Gojira.
Cool shit anon, take it easy with those time signature changes. You could put an eye out with them on the dance floor
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The lyrics are kinda cheesy but in a really, good, heartfelt way that tell me you really love the game. Well produced. I don’t like growls so it took enjoyment away from me, but for those who like it I think they’ll like this track a lot.
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Damnn, this is a strong contender early on in the batch. The arrangement feels somewhat detached between the two parts, but I’m not as well-versed in prog rock arrangement conventions so that could very well be a stylistic thing. The mix is clean as hell without taking the bite out of the song. I felt like the drum tone didn’t totally hit the mark for me, but the performance/writing is excellent! That organ tone chef’s kiss and I do love the acoustic breakdown in a vacuum – I feel like I would have been satisfied if the arrangement just faded out during the acoustic breakdown, the final minute and a half felt like it was going for an extended outro similar to Lune by Periphery, but there wasn’t a lot of lush chords or harmonic support to really give it that cinematic outro feeling, so it felt like padding to me. The ending solo rips though.
This has the benefit of me being very familiar with the source tune, I’ve spent a lot of time playing Dawn of Sorrow so all of the lyrical references landed for me. They’re a bit tongue in-cheek (you really hit us with the “That’s the name of the show!” in the middle) but the delivery on the vocals for both the clean and growling vocals is very strong and controlled.
Lots of subjective feelings here, but overall loved this one a ton! This is going to be tough to beat, anon!
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I’m not a prog guy or a vocals guy so this isn’t really for me. But as far as production and execution go, it’s all solid. Vocals feel like there too close to my face (back them off a tad and add in some more verb/delay?). But the organ, guitars, bass, and drums are all balanced well and cut through.
Acoustic section was my favorite (and that 6 second part at 2:25). Really well performed and recorded.
Overall a really well done track that did feel kinda long, but not as long as it actually was.
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Love the vocal performance! Could us a little fx on it, it’s a bit too clean for the rest of this mix. Maybe just back it off and raise the backers a tiny smidge? Looking at the timestamp I am worried this will wear out its welcome. The arrangement of this tune is really good, feels like the production could use a little more. Drums could benefit from a little bit more variance in the note velocities.
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This was crazy. I’m so prog loving and this had just enough changes to keep my attention for the full 8 minutes.
I think that maybe the vocals could have been a little bit mixed more “in” right now they feel like pop vocals rather than prog metal vocals, especially since we’re not talking about like Pain of Salvation levels of vocal acrobatics.
Otherwise – dang I love this. The acoustic section was lovely and the performances are so top notch.
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Progressive rock that suddenly… VOCALS! The vocals are pretty good, great placement and the backing track illustrates a lot of attention to detail. I did NOT expect vocals in this one. The second section at 2:47 I wished was a little more pingy, but that’s a pretty minor nitpick because everything else is great. I liked the Vampire hunter callout (not sure if that’s in the original), the vocal tone and the guitar performances (like the whole middle soft section). I kinda wanted the last movement (around 7m) to be more intense and climactic, voice-wise, especially after such a big ride leading to this point! What a show this one is. Awesome stuff.
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I had trouble recognizing this source at first, but it immediately screamed “Castlevania” from the intro (probably the organ). Bass is great, and as soon as that rhythm comes in, I knew I had heard this before. Love the shifts and turns this takes, and of course, the amazing vocals. I’m a fan, vocalist anon, your lyrics are way cool as well (that is, if you wrote them), love how you mention several games and tropes from the series. As mentioned during the LP, this has a lot of Dream Theater vibes. Proggy, heavy and very Castlevania. This is a longie, but in my opinion, it never overstays its welcome. In fact, the excellent acoustic break helps it reach that 7 minute milestone and, are those subtle winks to another and more classic source there? I do feel the vocals could use some more effects to give them an extra oomph at the right places. However, the chorus chant and tasteful guitar solo at the end really make the whole piece worth the while with a very emotional ending. You made my top anon.
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Pick scrape = sick. Love it. Rhythm guitars feeling a little thin. Actually the whole mix would benefit from some mids imo. Nice 7/8 riff. The organ feels a little dry. Some reverb would help here.
Oh, vocals? Sweet. Right in front, where they need to be. Love the growls underneath. OH that growl into pinch harmonic was SICK. Nice glitch at 5:20.
Break at 5:40 is welcome, especially for such a long track. I reiterate the need for mids here, it’s very bright. Nice main theme reference at 6:30.
Love the vocal harmonies. And we’re going out with a guitar solo! Nice.
This track is an adventure for sure. Nice and heavy, proggy, I dig it.
Cool arrangement! Balance the mix for a truly epic track.
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super prod, prog feeling, for my personal taste i enjoy more the acoustic part
so clean, nice arrangement and playing, gg
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Hitting right off the back with a nice organ sound and some really emphasized hits from the drums and the rhythm – very interesting mix between a prog feel and a bit of light metal. Then the bass comes in with that groove at about 0:50, and then we really take off. Drum pattern is very nice and complex, and helps to drive this song along. The metric modulations all over this are really fun – helps to keep me engaged. And then vocals! Backup vocals could come up a touch more but the lead vocal is really nice and balanced over the instrumentals. Shift around 2:40 is exquisite, really loving how complex and stylistic this arrangement is, even just a quarter of the way through. The bridge around 4:30 is just amazing, drummer gets to rock out and yet everything remains balanced. Then really mellowing out around 5:30 – gets us to take a nice calm break. Solo guitar tone is really beautiful, clean and can really just pick out that sound well. Then the buildup back to the previous section at 6:45 is really well handled. Would like a bit more of the backing vocals in this section, I can barely hear them and they get covered up by the instrumentals. Guitar solo just rises out and really shines in this closing section. I think only nit here is the ending feels a touch abrupt, would have liked a little more of a slow fade or something given how this piece went. But overall, this is rock solid anon(s)!
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HOLY MOLY. Okay, so, for vocals, I think more reverb would be good to blend in with the instrumentals (but not too much), but also, listen to some of your favorite tracks and focus on JUST the vocals. Better yet: Grab some stems! Some creative automation with delays/reverb/chorus/etc can go a long way. Experiment around with it and have fun! Getting to do that at the end of phrasings and especially sections can go a long way. Some of the transitions could’ve been smoother, but man. one hell of a track. feels like I just went on a journey. Good stuff Anon(s)!
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