1. ur more like fyre n u kno
   nukage
2. Antipodes
   DDRKirby(ISQ)
3. The Cold Fire
   Seyaro

1. The Cold Fire
   Seyaro
2. Antipodes
   DDRKirby(ISQ)
3. We Always End Up With One Another
   Misael.K

But everything was really great this week.

1. We Always End Up With One Another
   Misael.K
2. The Cold Fire
   Seyaro
3. Antipodes
   DDRKirby(ISQ)

I was still away at the time of OHC and I didn’t get back until Sunday. Despite that I still chose to vote now so I don’t have to worry about it later. Because of this, it’s mobile voting so mistakes are likely more prevalent here as i’m not really used to mobile voting. As last time, since I wasn’t here, i instead the next day, decided to do some practicing by making a beat based off the images using my own 1hr 30 timer, and sharing it on the Sharing Off discord channel on  the ThaSauce server, which you can check out. It was fun, and I still managed to get some practicing in. Now let’s move onto the entries (8 entries is quite short this week, wow. Maybe people don’t have time as they used to?). Anyways into the voting!

DarkShadow - Classic DarkShadow sound bit this time with a bit more of a hard hitting gritty edge. Still has the sawtooth chords but the filtering is a lot more crazy than last time. I do think there is a lot of dissonance here for my liking, however I must say the filtering is pretty sick. This is very cool and a ton of fun. Good job!

Seyaro - Welcome new person, I don’t think I’ve heard your music yet, I love the arps here, very chiptune sounding. The melodies here feel like I’m in a sonic game for some reason. Loving the string work, kind of adds more or an orchestral feel to the chiptune arps. This is quite epic, and cinematic. I could totally see a beat with this, but as it stands is lovely. The chords in the 2nd half are absolutely beautiful. There is a lot of attack on the strings, which in this context is fine, but it makes for maybe not of a dynamic melody, as it brings out some of the artificial notes, however this one is extremely minor, as regardless, you nailed the melody ideas, this was wonderful. So wonderful I placed it 2nd, it was amazing for a new guy. Amazing work! 

DDRKirby(ISQ) - Loving the swing in this, feels both funky and chill. The intro is not as long as some of your entries, this week you feel like just diving straight in, no shame there. The melody is awesome as always, and the vibe is that lovely mix of ambient passages and chiptune melodies. The middle section was a complete surprise, we went straight into a trance vibe it was awesome. I mean it’s hard to critique your entries because there is very little that sticks out as being weird or something that doesn’t work, it’s just such consistently high quality stuff. Love the variety of melody ideas, it’s great. So great I picked it for the 3rd spot, it was that good, amazing work!

Nukage - Nukage with the lo-fi guitar!? Damn this is not a classic Nuke buildup. The vocals are the classic science fiction like, but the intro didn’t feel like metal at all, even though you dropped into metal. No buildup here either, you just drop me straight into it. I did notice with the mix here it’s very squished and not very loud. Which is kind of amusing as I often say the opposite, it’s too loud and overblown haha. But it’s always mitigated by the sheer volume of material presented, and it’s always extremely high quality. Even if there is potential in the mix, it’s made up by the amazing melody work. If it was boosted a bit (Not to like extreme levels obviously) it would go harder than it already it is. However it’s still amazing either way, I loved it a lot, well done!

Dex - That bassline does not sound natural at all lol. At least to my ears, it sounds like a one shot sample. To be fair though, at the tempo you’re going It kind of makes sense. Still though I love the rest, I was not expecting such happy chords for that bass-line, and the flute melody is very cute. I love the passing chords here, it’s a great elevation of the classics. The melodies are so nicely done, and fit the vibe so well. Nothing else to say really, it was just a lovely catchy piece. Well done!

Meistr (And Company) - Loving that haunting background vocal it’s great. You have such a wide variety of singers and collaborators, you must have like a yellow pages of singers to hook up to, it’s kind of impressive. And the best part is they all sing so well, it’s awesome. Love the transition from the background vocals into the main vocals, there is some sick harmonisation here. The vocals are very up front, but the rest is reduce to faint background noise, in my opinion it should be blended so both work in harmony. The drums are cool, it’s not EDM but more like a downtempo style. It does change in the 2nd half to more trap style, which initially I was expecting not gonna lie, but I like the best of both worlds. I do think there is a bit of timing issues in regards to the 2nd half’s vocal melody, I felt like we were behind by a few milliseconds, and if I were to be a little pedantic, I think the mix could be a little more crisper, but aside from that it was extremely fun to listen to, the melodies composition wise were amazing. It definitely has a lot of potential, good job!

Misael.K - Woo it’s been a while since you’ve gone 6 minutes, and I’m all for it! The drum work is sick, but I can tell is a break, which surprised me, as I assumed you were gonna do love drums, but this is more than good enough. The stereo on the drums is awesome, it messes with my brain in a lovely way. The piano line is not complex, but it’s some lovely chords either way. The melody is the best bit here, I’m in love with the synth you’ve used. It’s so airy and sparkly. This is what I best describe this piece. Semi-Jazzy and Sparkly. The drums isn’t have much variation in them, but it’s a breakbeat, and it’s not really the star of the show. I can tell this is a bit closer to a Steve Reich type piece as there is a lot of slow morphing repeating elements. Love the polyrhythm in the melody, that is really catchy. For 6 minutes I wasn’t bored, I was really captivated by it all. This one was just lovely, so lovely I picked it for the top spot, it was just beautiful. Incredible work!

Arcana - Last one from Arcana! These are some really cool string sounds! Some parts are dissonant but some are really cool. The vocal effects are really great, it sounds alien like. The overall mix is on the quiet side, and I do think the vocals struggle to compete with the orchestral sounds. Wasn’t expecting cinematic drums, but they don’t detract from the overall piece. I think there is a lot of potential here, the electronic drums at the end could do with a bit more beefing up, maybe some smoothing of the chords, but as it stands the idea is great, I totally think this could be taken further, it was great. Good job!

Top 3 - Misael.K, Seyaro, DDRKirby(ISQ)

Awesome - Seyaro, DDRKirby(ISQ), Nukage, Dex, Misael.K. 

Needs Work - DarkShadow, Meistr, Arcana.

1. Antipodes
   DDRKirby(ISQ)
2. Pastels, Kojjie, TokaiChan, Kieran, Sento, Meistr - Ice 'n Fire
   Meistr
3. The Cold Fire
   Seyaro

DDRKirby(ISQ): solid entry.

Meistr: impressive work.

Seyaro: good interpretation of the theme, nice composition.

awesum: DarkShadow, DDRKirby(ISQ), Dex, Meistr, Seyaro.
good: Arcana, nukage.