Haggard's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Mortal Kombat vs. DjBracksta]

Starts slow but gets amazing later on

While I still prefer the original version (it's just too awesome) I have to say that this is a very interesting remix. I like that you put so much of your own work into this and created a whole new song with it.
Sometimes remixes tend to sound too much like the original and the author just changed a few notes. But you changed a lot more than just a few notes. In fact - judging by your author comment - this wasn't even planned as a mortal kombat remix in the beginning.

Anyway, the intro is a bit messy, there seems to be too much going on at the same time, but the song constantly gets better and after about 1 minute the song just sounds awesome.

The outro is done very nicely, even though there's a pretty long silence at the end. I like how you slowly end this song, it sounds much better as if you had ended it with a big clash of cymbals at the end.

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Bracksta responds:

you are very observant :). yep, i am working on finishing the original song before i added mortal kombat in. the intro seems messy because i am introducing two melodies at once, it was not to easy. i agree that the original is very hard to stand up to, so i just threw a bracksta wrench into the sucka and tried my best. i am very glad that i ended the song slowly because if i didn't the listener would have had no cuddle time after the storm of sound and would have been like, "What the hell man?!" lol. thanks for the great review and vote and time Haggard :D, always happy to have your input!

[3 Souls Traverse the Forest]

Sad...

I agree with Blackhole12, the FX in this song are a bit too loud. They sometimes overpower the other instruments, which is a real pity.

While the melodies are very nice and catchy they don't seem to change too much during the song. Especially the background beat stays the same for nearly the whole song.

This makes the song very repetitive and I think you should try to vary it a bit.

But apart from that I really like the song. It creats a very sad mood, but it's not just "sad", it's also calm. As if someone is thinking about and old friend who died some years ago. Of course the person is sad, but he also got over the loss, meaning that the sorrow doesn't "dictate" the normal life anymore.

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[Spiritual Hunt & Slow Cosmic]

Low sound quality but nice song

Yeah, the sound quality of this piece is kinda low, but it still is good enough to enjoy this song. The atmosphere it creates is very dense and in fact very "spiritual".

I like the guitar the most here, it has a very nice rhythm and being a guitar player myself I tend to focus on the guitars when listening to a song, heh.

Anyway, the background melodies are very nice as well and they support the guitar with good melodies that add a lot to the nice atmosphere.

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Monkeydelic responds:

Thanks for the review :)

Namaste.

[Hope-Demo]

It's a good start

Starts off quite slow, but it gets better with every second the song plays. I really like the build up you have done so far.

However, I too think you should change the drums once the guitar sets in. Those very soft drums don't really fit together too well with the more hard sounding guitar.

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itsameyayo responds:

Agreed on the drums. I'll have a friend help out there. :)

-ImperfectDisciple

[Strangled - the deeper wo]

Nice but quiet

The atmosphere lingers between dark, hopeless and hopeful. It's a bit hard to describe. For example the tunes we can hear throughout the song (the first time we can hear them is already in the first second) sound almost sinister, while on the other hands there are melodies and sounds that sound really hopeful (at around 15 seconds into the song, also this part of the main melody reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy VII, but no special scene comes to my mind... it just feels as if I had heard a similar chord progression in this game).

Anyway, while the atmosphere is very nice the song itself is a bit too short for my liking. Also it keeps itself in the background too much. There's no instrument that stands out. All tunes try to make room for the other instruments, yet no instrument fills the "gap" there.
I'm not talking about turning this into an "in your face" song, but for me, it's too quiet right now.

{ Review Request Club }

[Fertile Grounds and Open Skies]

Good but too short

And once again the mix between ambient and DnB is done very well. The melodies here create a quite dark and somewhat cold atmosphere and the constant drums that don't change too much during this song just underline the darkness of this song even though the title "open skies" would suggest a more happy atmosphere. But the lyrics also indicate that this song isn't meant to be happy.

My only real negative point is the fact that this song is too short. It barely started and then it's already over again. So yeah... make it longer! :P

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SessileNomad responds:

yeah its too short, it happens though

yeah this track isnt really a happy one, i guess the title could impose that though

[The Ostrich Run]

Good

The 8bit/16bit feel of this piece is very nice, takes me back to some old classic games, heh.

The intro is done nice as well, the build up is done very carefully and the song developes at a pretty good speed. I also like the rhythm of the piano very much, it's very driving.

However, the lead melody (the one that starts at 0:23) is sometimes all over the place the first time it can be heard. This sounds a bit strange. Later on in the piece the melody fits quite well to the other instruments, but here it sounds a bit out of place.

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The-Mercenary responds:

I can see why you might say that, but I wanted it to get complex(0:35) because the part following it is very simple, and the other purpose is that it goes back to it later in the song, if I changed it or took it out, it would sound unfamiliar and seem out of place later on in the song. Sometimes music sounds wierd the first time you hear it, but it makes more sense as you keep listening to it.

[The City of Endless Light]

Nice track

A very nice piece. I think it's composed pretty good and I like the echo effect on the piano.

The melodies are very good and catchy and the piano, together with the effect on it, creates a very calm and relaxing atmosphere.

However, the ending is a bit cut off, you should let the last note ring out completly before ending the song, I think this would sound a lot better.

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[As A Bird (WIP)]

Great potential

I agree with TheIncredibleD, the drums should start sooner. It's only after over 1 minute before they start and when they do they sound strangely off, as if they where playing a different rhythm than the guitar. Or maybe it sounds so strange because the snare drum doesn't really go along that well with the guitar in this song. A little more mastering could get rid of this problem, though.

Anyway, on to the good things: The guitar sounds really nice. The rhythm is good and the melody is very catchy.
When the song started I had a feeling that I heard this before, but maybe that's just because your voice reminds me of the singer of Stereophonics.

Well, speaking of the voice, it sounds awesome and fits very well together with the guitar.
It would be nice if you could post the lyrics in the author comments, as they are a bit hard to make out for me.

Overall this song has very great potential so you should try to work out the problems with the drums and master the song a bit better. :)

{ Review Request Club }

StickyRemnant responds:

Lyrics posted. And consider the drums destroyed ;)

Sounding similar to Kelly Jones is a complement to me, thanks. I'm glad people seem to like my vocals, it's quite surprising as I've never considered myself any kind of singer. Most, if not all of my tracks, are just sung by me for the purposes of a demonstration for the rest of the band (which is being put together again after quite a few years) since I am the main songwriter atm. I may 'officially' sing some of the acoustic songs tho now

Thanks again for the review :)

[Live 9 - The Awakening]

Nice but you need a mic! :P

A nice piece considering the fact you completly improvised it, but as others have suggested, you need a better mic. The sound quality is awful and it doesn't do this song justice.

The abrupt ending at the 2 minute mark is really a pity, I'd like to hear the last 3 seconds of this song as well (this kinda reminds me of the old tape I had with Metallicas Ride The Lightening album on it. The last few seconds of "The Call of Ktulu" didn't fit on it, and it ended during the outro, very annoying. ^^).

There are some dissonant notes during the song, but I guess that is the price you have to pay if you completly improvise a song.

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