DonaldFletcher's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Inner War [PDM]]

Damn beautiful for something that ain't finished

First off, the vocals are great. I wouldn't change much in their presentation, if anything at all.

Second observation I've got here is that it feels like I just listened to three different great songs here. This thing is seriously operatic in scale and I love it. I don't think it's as innovative as Electric Pulse was, though I think what you're trying to do here is break into a more theatrical type of storytelling / experience-conveying sort of industrial rock (Perfect Drug comes to mind, thinking of something to which I could compare this)

There's just something missing here and I can't quite put my finger on it. Seems like there's no backbone holding together the song especially after three or four minutes. Every segment has its merits, especially the seventy seconds after 2:00 (and it's just awesome how you led into and through all that); I just don't see all the pieces fitting together all that well at this point. I don't know if you need something solid below and between certain parts to bind them together, or even something as simple as standardizing one of your synths and giving it more of a constant presence. Maybe a couple of your transitions could use some touchup - the one at 3:10 was a little distracting for example.

There's a hell of a lot of potential here, but like you said it's a work in progress. I can't wait to see where you take this.

Elfire responds:

thanks for the detailed feedback! youve just underlined what i had suspected, transitions in this one suck. i was having a hard time binding the two parts together. and the glitch part is going to be really hard to break into.
In retrospect its totally different to electric pluse but i didnt want to go too mainstream with this project. (as the next one is back to that sort of style, the only reason this one came first is because i had so much fun with it)
There may come a time in the not so distant future where i cut the "chorus" out totally, in place of something that carrys on the previous theme if i cant get it to fit.
Thanks again for the review!
and perfect drug is ONLY the best NIN song ever!

[[OLD] Robot Inc]

You're right about the rhythm.

Certainly the rhythm in this piece is its strongest aspect- definitely makes the whole 2:39 enjoyable for a passive listen.
Though after 1:16 there was virtually no new reason for me to continue listening. Simple octave and instrument shifts in the same melody aren't enough to keep someone's attention. A few things could have been done differently toward the end. Firstly, a change in percussion would have helped. I think the first thing I'd have done was add another BD beat between a few of the good percussive beats you've already got going.
Also the guitar-esque sound you had going on in the right stereo channel was really working for me, but could have been brought more to center stage while the other established instruments were allowed to drift quietly to the side. This shift in stereo positioning may seem trivial, but even to someone who doesn't pay as much attention as I do would feel the difference.
Speaking of stereo, I noticed you left every instrument in pretty much stagnant positioning through the entire piece. You have a well-balanced stereo composition, however if you're doing Industrial some dynamic stereo panning is always a plus!
Anyway, thanks for the cool little piece. Well done.

[Konstruct- beta]

Fine piece of work.

I love the beat here. Very well constructed and even-flowing piece that made effective use of minimal percussion, which is pretty friggin hard to master.
There was no specific point in the piece that really grabbed me by the throat and made me say "What the FUCK, that's awesome!" but this kind of material makes for fantastic late night background music because it's not set up to really rip you off your seat, but to slowly and methodically pound the hell out of you, like a cigar compared to a cigarette. Ha, yeah, I guess that visualization sort of works. Anyway, nice work.

DomesticTerrorist responds:

Thanks dude! I appreciate the kind words.

[Blut]

Hard stuff, man.

And actually, I'm kinda diggin the snare. In the very least because it's something that's really making this track stand out for me. Hard distortions and hard beats are the signature of this piece. I think I'd have toned certain parts down to enhance the listenability of the work, however, that bringing me to the next point.

Main issue for me is that it felt like I just listened to the same minute and a half piece three times. Of course I know I didn't, and there are some variations in your transitions, as well as some division between major segments of the piece, though when you're running so much distortion through a set of human ears in order to elevate your sound to anything above noise you'll have to come up with equally hardcore ways to mix it up enough to keep it interesting. My gut tells me this calls for dramatic tempo shifts at critical points for starters. I think this could be made a lot better with that kind of thinking in mind.

One thing's certain though- I definitely respect how you went balls to the wall hardcore with this thing. Definitely.

Teddybeere responds:

Okay... Maybe with a band-pass along the backround drums and the bass? That should reduce the amount of noise and let the listeners recognize the varying parts. Thank you for the heavyset review, I think I'm going to overwork this and upload it again. Sorry for the morons that tagged all your reviews as useless, I really esteem them.

[Valhalla Bound]

Bloody Awesome- This track is #1 as of THIS vote

Also the 1st 10 I've ever given out on a review.
Killer, man.

[#Centigrade#]

Very sophisticated piece.

I see what you're saying about how hard it was to place this track in a single genre. I'm really struggling to do it myself! But I'm glad you put it in Industrial because otherwise I may not have found it ;-]

I like how you divide the song into a couple clearly divided yet completely smooth segments. Your understanding of percussive work and how to pan it is highly developed here.

I definitely feel the idea of cold coming though in this piece, like climbing over a looming glacier with some higher purpose in mind. Is that what you were shooting for? Anyway, your imagery is extremely strong, and though I personally would not have put this on the Industrial list it's definitely an awesome track regardless.

[Journey into Depth]

Excellent piece of Industrial

This does about everything I love about Industrial.
If any listeners weren't listening with headphones, do it now. This is a perfect example of how you can just use some simple panning to enhance your sound! And the reverb on the main "melody" sound was just right to set a great atmosphere for this piece.
This track was both consciously true to what Industrial is all about, and was a damn good unique piece of music as well. There's a lot of depth of sound here, and the more I listen to it the more I'm hearing. The only drawbacks I'm able to find is that some of the transitions between segments seem a little unduly rough around the edges. The noise at 30 seconds particularly stood out to me- I would have dropped the volume a hair and panned it in from the right. But that's just what I'd do- I'd say there's a good chance you're trying to say something by leaving it standing out like that. There are certain other minor points as well where certain sounds seem to climb through the ceiling and draw undue attention to themselves. Just a suggestion however. This is some incredible work!

WarlordXMaster responds:

Thank you so much for the review. I really appreciate the suggestions. I have another piece I got done with recently, I just don't feel like putting it on here for people to tear it apart. I will definitely put your ideas to work as soon as I can. You are right about the sound 30 part. I will go and redo some of the segments and make it flow even smoother. Thank you so much again. =D

[Traffic-LDNS finest]

Not horrible, just needs one simple thing to start

Percussion!!
I like the way you were able to arrange such a variety of synths together that smoothly on your first effort, which was better than my first effort.
But one thing that would almost instantly make this piece twice as good is even a halfway decent beat. Doesn't even have to be drums, but there's no backbone to the track whatsoever. It really needs something to give it rhythm.
After that work on switching up your melody here and there, or try focusing on a different sound for a few seconds.
I think there's potential here, but right now it just borders on the edge of listenability. Hope this helps!

[milk my fear]

Fantastic Industrial that's true to its roots.

I'm taking time away from an assignment due in under 2 hours to write this review, but this track deserves it so I'm going on with it anyway.
Very classy industrial. You definitely have an good hold on what it means to be part of this genre. I would love to know where you got your sounds and what software you're using.
I love how you've got a steady beat going, yet you're able to mix it up with different mechanical noises without having to get away from the consistent mood of the piece. Truly beautiful work. I left this on loop for the past ten minutes or so and it hasn't gotten old yet. Very solid, sophisticated stuff.

DJCHAMELMAMEY responds:

i produced this with my brother in law with a drum pad and reason, this is the first draft, i'm glad to hear you get it. we are working on some new stuff and shall be up soon, thanks for your review

[Drillcore Screech noise remix]

Another 9- well done

The people who voted this track less than a 3 over to the left should probably rethink why they're voting for tracks in the INDUSTRIAL section.
I mean, you wouldn't see me going into the hip hop section or start voting on R&B and giving it all ones and zeros because it doesn't sound enough like Industrial or Rock.

What you're composing (as I'm sure you know, but I'm saying this more for your listeners) is on the far edge of industrial that years ago was the heart and soul of the genre, and can still be seen in sometimes in the music of bands like Skinny Puppy (from Canada). What happened is that Industrial Rock, which is the area I work in, sort of took over the genre probably due to the success of Trent Reznor in the 90s.

Even though Reznor (of NIN fame) is my base philosophical model for anything musical, I admit that the Industrial Rock genre he pushed forward is the equal of the hardcore mechanical industrial to which he "gave a human face" as one critic whose name I forget pointed out. In fact Reznor has worked closely with the lead singer from Skinny Puppy in at least one project that I know of.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that what you composed here is truly good, genuine industrial. I can't make anyone change the way they vote on material like this, and I can't fault them if they just don't like the original genre. I mainly just wanted to let liteners know WHY the original Drillcore and this remix (which I think is a fraction better than the original) deserve such high ratings. I hope no one thinks I'm a pointyheaded asshole for writing all this!!

OK, extraordinarily long review concluded. Haha, thanks if you read it.

Cheers,
-DEF