MetalRenard's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Son of Beach (NGADM '15)]

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The great:
Guitars sound great - full and clear. The clean break sounds great and made a nice change to the ever-chugging style of the song. I like how the high lead snuck in before the heavy section picks up again. You bass guitar adds nice warmth without muddying up the whole track.

Areas for improvement:
Your drums stick out, a lot. I think most of this is due to them boing too loud although some could be attributed to the depth of the snare which is over powering the guitars. It's just too much for the rest. I think the intro or chords sections needed more melody or something over the top to complete the song.

Final score: 8.5
Awesome as always, you Dawg. <3

JDawg00100 responds:

:D Thanks for the review!

[Racing the Sun (MetalRenard Mix)]

My mix is still pretty messy but with the school year coming up soon I really need to focus on planning and stuff. :(
Sorry I couldn't give it more time to really clean up the mix! I loved working on your awesome track though!

thebitterroost responds:

Everyone is their own worst critic dude. I'm flattered you wanted to work with it at all! As Carl Brutananadilewski would say: IT's ROCKIN.

[Velcro]

NOT a NGADM review... So I can be as biased as I want.
Holy shit this made me happy. We talked about this one for hours in the judge Skype chat, globally loved is what I'd call it. It's a shame you were against other hard hitters.
The rhythm that starts a third in makes me smile every time, the lead is awesome too and just over all. LOVE IT.
LOVE IT.
LOVE IT.

LunacyEcho responds:

Wow. o.o

I wish I could wake up to something like this everyday. You're awesome, MetalRenard! :D :D

[Ghost Pilot]

This is a NGADM Round 1 Review!
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Final score: 6.5
Composition: 9
Mix: 4

Woah! This is GREAT composition, really interesting and with tons of cool ideas, transitions, different themes that fit really well together and I loved the piano around the 1 minute mark. Awesome stuff! (FYI, reminds me of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle.)

HOWEVER... Your mixing leaves so much to be desired. For one, -turn it down-. The entire song is distorting throughout, from start to finish. Not only does this mean the sound quality is lower, but also your lose any dynamics that would make the song even more interesting.
Once you've turned it down, upload again and maybe we can start to nit-pick and find other issues so I can help you improve. Feel free to PM me. :)

[Racing the Sun]

This is a NGADM Round 1 Review!
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Final score: 7.25
Composition: 8
Mix: 6.5

Well that was a blast from the past - sounds like classic Maiden. I loved the riffs!! As said before it reminds me of the metal covers of F-Zero, fast paced and with excellent rhythm. Finally I think I should have given you a 9 for composition, in retrospect, however the mix did influence my opinion a lot as, despite how catchy it COULD be, it sounds really flat and uninteresting. The mix is full but lacks clarity, nothing really finding its own time to shine. Also I don't think the NES sounds were necessary or made sense...

Work on that mixing and your tracks could be some of the best on NewGrounds! :)

[Find the Light]

This is a NGADM Round 1 Review!
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Final score: 8
Composition: 7
Mix: 9

The orchestration is really good in this, each instrument is allowed to show its identity and it's not over-loaded with details which allows the theme of the piece to come through fully.
However this was a really "safe" composition, generic is a word I've seen thrown around. You pulled off this style really well and I'm sure it would place really well in games/TV/film but for listening purposes I find it a little lacklustre in terms of composition.

The mix is really clear and full sounding, your instruments sound lovely and you programmed them well. No complaints here except maybe I would have wanted a bit more impact at times, such as when the drum rolls come in and the cymbals crash to show transitions.

:)

[IYD - Latin Crap Pasta]

This is a NGADM Round 1 Review!
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Final score: 9
Composition: 8
Mix: 9
Bonus: 0.5

I loved the chords you used in this and how they blended together well, as well as the risk you took at the end (though I'm not too sure it worked out to your advantage), it was definitely an interesting and unusual listen. +.5 bonus for taking the risk, though you lost that in the composition anyway so... breaking even right? :P

Your mix was really good, the guitars are clear and full sounding, except at the end (where you lost points) the track is not muddy and everything seems to have its own space (though I feel the drums stick out a bit, I wish people would process drums more...).

Downloaded for personal listening later... ^_^
Metululu! \o/

[Beat But Breathing]

This is a NGADM Round 1 Review!
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Final score: 8.5
Composition: 9
Mix: 7
Bonus: 0.5

I found this track really interesting, your guitar technique is really impressive as shown in your ability to harmonise really fast sections accurately (hence the .5 bonus). I like the intro and outro but the transitions could have been a little better between sections. The section at 1:30 is AWESOME, really, really cool. Also the first thing I wrote in my notes on this when giving it a score was "tell him he sounds like Zakk Wylde", hope you like that. ^_^

What let you down was the mix. There's a ton going on here and you're struggling to nail your mixing, I remember it was the same last year when I also loved your songs but wished you could mix them better. The less complex sections sound awesome - high impact guitars and all the different instruments coming together to just blow you away. Sadly the mix really lacks focus everywhere else. I think it's important to understand what it is the most important in each part and then mix the song AROUND that thing. Mixing is full of technique, sure, but it's also an art and you're now at the stage where you need to come to grips with that. It's a part of the creative process so keep on fighting to get better and you'll come up with tons of amazing music which will blow my mind even more. ^_^

METLULZ! \o/

(You can always PM me if you want any detailed tips or advice!!)

Metallica1136 responds:

Awesome man! I really enjoyed reading this review, Zakk Wylde is a great guitarist, this is the first time I've ever been compared to him, so thanks for that! Yeah, I'm still struggling to get the perfect mix in my songs, It's always the most challenging part about music, not the writing it's self. Definitely PM me and let me know some helpful tips for what I can do to make the mix better. Thanks for the review man!

MeT4LZZZz! \m/

[Friction Point]

This is a NGADM Round 1 Review!!!
Score: 9.5, Composition: 9, Mix: 9, Bonus: 0.5 for an exceptional guitar performance (seriously, holy shit dude).
I found this piece very intense and the energy came through excellently, the rhythm guitar never outstayed its welcome and was varied throughout, from heavy chugging to melodic sections and power chords during the chorus. The lead guitars were blistering and your phrasing is incredible, the way you can put so much detail into each note blows the mind.

As always, the mix is also top-notch, my only complaint really being that your snare is kinda bad - swamped in reverb and in a weird space of its own. I mean it sounds "ok" in the mix but you wouldn't hear a snare like that in a pro-level piece and I expect nothing but the best from you. You have a great guitar sounds, the lead guitar sits on top beautifully while not masking or overpowering the rest.

METAL! \m/

PirateCrab responds:

DAT SNARE.

Thanks for the ace review man I appreciate it, I always look forward to your reviews because it's metal fans like yourself I want to impress :)

My new track has a totally improved snare and sits more fully into the mix now. It just felt like it had too much reverb, but now it's much tighter, you'll get to hear it sooner or later :D

Thanks for expecting the best from me too! (Also, not thanks, because I have to work harder now. Humph >:) ha)