Oliver31's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Children of the Sky (NEW)]

Beautiful work.

I see what you mean when you said it gave you goosebumps, this is gorgeous. The whole instrumentation is absolutely perfect, i'm speechless. Great remake and more great work from my favorite composer - awesome stuff, keep it up!!!

Setu-Firestorm responds:

Thank you. =D

[Touhou 8 - Metal]

Great, but sounds a bit "synthy"

It's an exciting, upbeat headbanger; i've never heard of touhou before, but it's still a good headbanger nonetheless. The lead guitar sounds awesome, and contains lots of catchy riffs. Most of the background guitar sounds too synthetic though; kinda takes away from the metally intensity. Still a welcome addition, exceeding the average video game theme cover.

Setu-Firestorm responds:

Yeah, I agree. What happened was I put the usual distortion on the rhythm guitars that I did in the last couple rock pieces, but for metal it doesn't work. I should've used a different more fuzzy and bassy distortion so the original strat sound can't be heard tingling about the way it was.

Thanks for the input.

[Anti-Koopa Song (pseudo-Live)]

wow...

That movie was an absolute joke (a good joke, however). Why the hell w ould you decide to make a song about it now, almost 2 decades after its lackluster release? Oh well, your homage to this song is still kick-ass. The live effect was very "pseudo-ey", and while the clapping was a bit annoying, it added some realism. And the crazy shredding guitars were a nice touch. Almost like a light DethKlok. Good job tho, dude.

Setu-Firestorm responds:

Thank you. I was originally not going to do the "live" sound, but in the end, I thought - with how short the song really is - that it'd best pass off as something a band would spontaneously do on stage rather than just put on an album.

Why did I do this? Well, every now and then I decide to make a homage song just for fun (like I did "Booster's Swing Club" as a swing version of Booster's Tower theme from Super Mario RPG, and the "Still Alive" cover I did over Jonathon Coulton's song for the game Portal), and I thought about how no one did a homage song to this one, so I figured I'd take the initiative and do it.

Thanks for the feedback. It is greatly appreciated.

[Still Alive (AltRock cover)]

I LOVE IT!

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you making this. This song driven by the mighty power of rock, to me, is much cooler and more enjoyable, and you don't have to listen to GLaDOS's sqeaky high pitched voice! Everyone wins!

Oh, and Portal is the BEST GAME EVER.

Setu-Firestorm responds:

Yeah, Portal was fun as hell. Jonathon Coulton does have a version of himself singing to the same accompaniment track that GLaDOS was singing to, but I didn't think it was "driving" enough.

I'm glad you appreciate it. I had a lot of fun making this.

[That Which We Call Rose]

Once again, you don't disappoint

Another great rock song! All the instruments sound perfectly in tune and crystal clear, and your vocals are, in my opinion, near their best in this song. Definitely not the best rock song you've made, but definitely one memorable tune.

Setu-Firestorm responds:

Thanks, although this song particularly taught me an important lesson: never write a song for someone you're dating, because if everything falls through, you'll always have THIS to remind you. =p

[When Shadows Fall]

Well Done!

More excellent rock. This seems to be one of your less popular songs, but it still rocks. The bass riff heard in the beginning and throughout the song is extremely catchy and the entire instrumental track was at a level of expertise I'll never know. However, the vocals were definitely shaky, and in some places could've done much better. Other than that, it's a smash!

Setu-Firestorm responds:

Oh yeah. This song was a bit far from perfect, but it was still during the stages of really learning the do's and don'ts of making homemade virtual rock.

A lot of technique comes from listening to what others do and trying to mimic that in your own work. It gives you a sense of how things are and aren't done.

Thanks for the review.

[Brotherhood: Lost Loved Ones]

Quit making me cry!

Again, you've delivered an unforgettable song, so full of emotion and mourning, that I can't control my waterfalls of eyes. If you've actually experienced the pain your songs tell us you have, I am deeply sorry and am baffled by how you'd get by while still producing such incredible tunes.

Setu-Firestorm responds:

Actually, this was composed for a short film for the purpose of creating an emotionally reflective atmosphere, seeing as how the short film was a drama about two brothers, one of which dies of a terminal illness and his older brother had to reflect back on his memories.

It is true that I use a lot of pain I've endured to inspire the emotional pieces I do, although I don't suffer any more slings and arrows as everyone else.

Thank you for the review.

[-Through the Mirror-]

New Rock God?

This song is uber-intense! You sure know how to work your talent to its full potential. The guitar work is very impressive, and the fx take it up another notch. Screw Guitar Hero- your music kicks ass!

Setu-Firestorm responds:

Hahaha. Thanks.