S0MBRASOUNDS's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Rutra - Fire]

Not bad! pretty decent brostep through and through.

I like the intro vocal in combination with the brass and pluck melody. Sounds full and keeps me engaged

The drop is decent in terms of idea. Very energetic and well arranged. With that being said, I would definitely work on your drop synths. The main sixteenth note one sounds muffled and without much high end. It's not very clean, and prevents the drop from being as huge as it could be even though I do like its watery texture. The other synths around it are very obvious cymatics samples. Now, I'm not saying don't use samples, I'm simply saying using an unprocessed bass shot in a drop is not original. I usually use samples for stuff like drums and fx, and if I use a bass shot, I process it through granular synthesis to make it completely unrecognizable.

Either way, still a lot of good here. Keep at it! :)

RutraOfficiel responds:

Thank you very much for your feedback! I appreciate it a lot !! By the way, I put some FX on bass presets, but yes I'm no the best at the mix... So thanks again !! ;)

[Shadow Eye]

Ideas wise, this is quite good, execution wise, there is definitely work to be done.

The piano and string melodies throughout are well composed, and I like the more classic dubstep approach with the wobble bass. Very epic in feel

However, it does lack elements of a professional dubstep track. The acoustic drums are muddy, not punchy, and don't poke through the mix well (dull/deflated), but I do appreciate the use of acoustic drums, very unique. The wobble bass is also a pretty basic sound, and it sounds quiet in the mix. There is also a lack of effects and background sounds. Little sweeps, ambience, and stronger risers will help glue sections of track together and make it feel more layered and interesting. Right now, it feels very skeletal

Anyway, you are on the right track, I do really like this style, but I would suggest taking some time to learn modern dubstep production. Do not get discouraged, it is difficult and takes a hell of a lot of time :)

Dragoneex responds:

Thank you for your review. At the moment this might be kinda.. my first dubstep song i made

[MinaVoid - Good Boy]

wow, an entire song made from clips of marauda tracks

[No Escape II]

This is quite an impressive piece. Love the blend of the chiptune elements that are included in the mix alongside the metal and dnb. Very detailed, transitions are excellent, melodic work is varied and interesting, and the mixing is also solid. I could sit here and nitpick things, but with something at the quality level of this, I really don't think it's necessary

ZeppyUwU responds:

Thank you so much!

[Judgment - Tribulation]

Some good elements to this one! Solid midtempo

Personally, the intro feels a little filler to me. Nice atmosphere and layering, but nothing about it really that engaging and it doesn't build tension going into the drop. The midsection/bridge is more effective in both of those ways

The drop however, is quite solid. Thick production. Classic midtempo sound design. I also like the second drop changeup. I'm not going to pretend the sound design and production are amazing. the synths are pretty standard and not super out there. I also wouldn't say there are enough little details to keep me interested. It kinda follows the same structure the whole way without cool fills or variation

regardless, it's still solid and effective for the genre :)

[Reviva]

Not bad, I like the more colorful brostep you're going for here. I like the melody and those delayed vocal chops in the intro. In the intro, however, I would add more elements, and work on mixing them a little sharper/cleaner. I would layer some other stuff under that pluck like a soft, warm reece bass or something to make it sound more full and interesting.

I like the four on the four drop here. The sound design is cool, also really like the synth arrangement. To me, it just sound like the mixing could be improved. The mix is a little muddy at not that fresh. the synths would benefit from some compression, slight distortion, and eqing to make them feel more exciting and present in the mix. Same with the drums which don't stand through the synths all that well.

but I like the approach here!

[helpless]

I can tell you're just starting out, so definitely things to work on, but there are still things I enjoy about it. The pads and such in the intro are ominous and cool. The intro does sound empty though, like more needs to be happening to fill out the mix more. Some kind of soft bassy element like a soft droning reece in the intro could help. The elements you have could be louder, and some reverbed out background elements would create a better atmosphere. I REALLY like that arp that fades in during the build.

The drop has an effective, basic flow, and some of the sound design is cool, it's just an execution thing for me. The drums could use more saturation and compression because right now they don't really have much punch under the drop synths. The drop synths themselves are a little thin. I would like to hear you try something lower pitched with them. Some distortion, compression, reverb could help them be thicker, and more riveting

So yeah, some decent aspects to this, but I do think improvement could be made on the execution/mixing front

PinkShirtDude responds:

thank you a lot for this review, I'll surely will do better next time, all the best!

[BANDDANIEL - Heart Crack]

Not bad, I like the intro. The pluck and melody is good, although it does feel slightly thin, like the layers could be more full and background stuff could be added like a soft reece bass or some pads. Buildup is also quite energetic, albeit a little sudden.

Not sure about the drop though honestly. It's heavy, impactful, and I can hear the idea, but it's just really short and doesn't fit with the intro. Mixing isn't bad, but the synths are a bit dry and overblown texture wise. Drums are punchy, but the snare does get buried a bit by the synth

so yeah, some good here, I like your melodies and ideas, you have the basics of brostep, but I would work on mixing, layering, and expanding sections to feel more natural along side each other transition wise

BANDDANIEL responds:

wow bro, I appreciate you being very direct! I'll try to improve my songs a bit ×﹏×

[Optik - Extinction]

whoa, I never hear drumstep anymore. Anyway, some good stuff here. Really enjoying that old excision-esque robotic bassline. Second drop switch caught me off guard too. The mixing is quite good, especially for the era you're going for