1. a juxtaposition of crushing solitude and rapturous joy
   cotmm68030
2. Focus
   ashka
3. Nevermore
   Misael.K

Ashka's Focus is very cerulean, but cotmm68030 took the cake for a concept piece, and that won it for me.

1. Carried On The Wind
   Atmospherium
2. Nevermore
   Misael.K
3. Focus
   ashka

This was pretty much an above-average compo with a lot of creative ideas and interesting concepts.

Atmospherium for sheer quality of execution here: Strong guitar sounds and voice in this one really makes this one epic.

MisaelK for the slow intro and the really large contrast at the end. It was actually foreshadowed with the distorted bass after the first section. It gets pretty big as it goes on and I think that's wonderful.

ashka for the textures and the interesting arp stacked on the really glitched beat. I didn't know what I'd think about it at first but it's super interesting. Everything is slightly off time and yet it's not. It's a little avant-garde. I think it's a really cool sound.

Some interesting honorary mentions:

DHG's great use of sliced voice clip, it's a rap.

cotmm: I found it rather abrasive and ambient, but I think that's actually a huge draw of this. It's really atmospheric and creepy. Good bass drone and SFX.

nukage: This has some sick production quality overall. I found it a little loud (so things got squashed a bit) but you still manage to really bring out instrumental intensity even without a drop.

TheVideoGamer: Nice work, I like the minimal trance here, it's very empty in parts but it sound extremely deliberate. It's a good journey with just enough change to make it interesting.

RAMPKORV: I actually realyl liked the scale/melody.

DarkShadow: Lots of cool sounds in here and really interesting polymeter. Something to think about would be, where would you add some silence/drops to contrast with the rest of the maximal sound that you like to work with?

Koekepan: The voice with reverb makes this exotic and strange. The tom sounds really cool. I'd be curious to learn you could do to change the texture of the noise more as the song evolves.

A2Z: This is one of the more interesting recent entries from you. It's very high energy and you really amp up the intensity when the kick comes in. If you add more sidechain compression this would really pump.

JH: This is pretty much your bread and butter. It's well executed and well sung and I liked the instrument solos and the harmonization, it's really solid.

DDRKirby: As I mentioned this had a lot of great elements, the sounds and textures are really great. The combination of synth and instrumentals here (bells, piano) was a great mix.

NickC: This is pretty different from recent entries, but I think it's quite interesting with the ominous piano and then a sudden transition to a frantic section. The strange scale is cacophonic but interesting. I think having more of a preview of what's to come would have helped set expectations but it's a cool juxtaposition.

ethansight: This had a really great bouncy intro with interesting sounds and a good beat. I kind of wanted more of the emotional tone shown in the intro since it was so uplifting and bouncing.

obScene: This is like some kind of epic metal intro too. The flutes and orchestral elements made it very interesting and organic especially in the last 1/3.

LunacyEcho: Really great singing and song development. Your voice is really good and it's expressive and I love the falsetto that's thematically fitting with the lyrics.

johnfn: This is really lovely, you could probably do a whole solo album in this style.

1. a juxtaposition of crushing solitude and rapturous joy
   cotmm68030
2. It's Our World
   Arcana
3. Comfort (cover of Yoobii)
   JH Sounds

One point goes to Yoobii. Yoo da man.

1. Focus
   ashka
2. Death Flies Above
   obScene
3. Drifting through the Calm
   DDRKirby(ISQ)

@CoTMM - It's 2020, how dare you call it blackbird!! Haha...I should have covered it yeah, but i'm different than everyone else, so i guess i didn't...

@Nukage - That's 100 percent true. As soon as compo starts, i've already whipped out my DAW with 3 instances each of my mostly used plugins, alongside some mostly used drums, which change, after looking at the theme. All plugins are set to default, until Compo starts, so yeah, i'd say use a template...

@JH Sounds - Must always remember to DROP THAT BEAT...

@Arcana - Minimal Techno is life....lel

@MisaelK - Everything i do is intentional lol. Sometimes in cases, i don't want to, but my creative spirit ends up doing it anyways. I'm just sort of glad it's not one chord, because even though i like them kinds of tracks a lot, i still feel more is better. Oh well...

@Everyone - Everyone's sucking that cock tonight are we hehe.

@NickC - I mean if we go by the development of Minimal Techno, you could argue, the intentional use of repetition, makes it less of a direct listen, and more of a background thing, but i'm probably talking garbage lol. Glad you liked it!

@Nukage - It's funny how everyone keeps comparing me to Underworld. I've listen to about 60 percent of their stuff, and this to me, doesn't really invoke that feeling. I dunno, it's instrumental for starters, and has a lot of open and closed pads. Each to everyone's own i guess...

@Everyone - Thanks for the kind words!

TheVideoGamer - So as you probably have heard, it's a 7 minute ambient techno/trance thing (People call it trance, which i suppose their not wrong...), the key stand out being, the rather full and dense one chord intro, before it releases into a long drawn out simplistic section, consisting of a looped bassline, and a pad that opens and releases, like a burst of fresh air. I'm pretty proud of this, largely because i'm digging what i did with the chords.

dusthillguy - This guy be the master of 80's synthpop. I don't know if you know, but this is vaguely similar to Talk Talk's - It's My Life. Not that it's a bad thing though, this is awesome. The melodies are really lovely. Well done!

cotmm68030 - I never knew a 9 minute epic, would leave me wanting more. The sound design was crazy good. Well done!

Nukage - Nuke be condensing a 5 minute EDM banger into a 1 minute almost trailer like preview. Everything here is awesome as usual, but i needed the anticipation, because instead it wasted no time and jumped in (After all it is a minute). Still tough, well done!

RAMPKORV - It's only a minute, but there is a lot going on here, all mixed rather quite well. The bass synths were a great compliment. Well done!

DarkShadow - Is there like a mathematical approach to your chord progressions or something lol. Good job!

Koekepan - Really nice idea here, great use of sounds, however for 5 minutes i needed just a little more. It's extremely minimal. Still liked it though, good job!

A2Z - Oof dat kick tho...Never though you'd come out with a hard techno track. For this kind of track, a huge spectrum is a given, however i was concerned it might be clipping. Oh well, this was a banger, well done!

JH Sounds - Ok i can't lie, i do actually like your singing voice. Track was nice, but unfortunately very repetitive. You had a 4 chord loop going for 4 minutes. Still though, good job!

DDRKirby(ISQ) - These pads are reaalllly goooood. The flow, the structure was awesome too, especially when you slow it down, and speed it up at parts. That was a really nice hype touch. The melodic elements (Especially the pads man) just took it up a lot. Awesome work!

Misael.K - Ok first off, your melodic writing in this track is...probably incredible to say the least, i was humming a lot. Sadly though, there's a few things you've done, that i'm not really gelling with. There's a pause at the start, before the melody resumes again. I never understood it's purpose. Also when the drums and stuff come in, I felt it was more jarring. I don't know, i feel this works better as ambient music, maybe a pad, and a soft melody. The melodic material in this one is just awesome though. Good job!

Ashka - You had to be number one didn't you. You just turn up to the scene, and already i'm giving you top spot. YOUR JUST SOOO DAAMM GOOOOD!!!

Atmospherium - Oof them guitars are loud and heavy, and good. Track was really nice, great idea, however it's very consistent, i needed a rest by the end, because you were going full force. Lovely guitars though, good job!

NickC - Daam this is some chilling horror music. It's split into 2 parts, which is ok, but i felt you could have expanded the first half, because i thought it was awesome. Second half was a bit weird to me (And maybe uneven mix wise), however it wasn't bad. Good job!

Arcana - Some great ideas here, especially in the melodies. It's first in a long time, that Arcana has made something happy, but then again, what is the definition of happy haha. Unfortunately the extensive timing issues didn't do it for me, however i love the melody ideas here, so good job!

ethansight - Wow them 80's styled whomps are just...wooow. The minimalism here is really interesting, before the bass really changed the texture. Well done!

obScene - Holy mother...I've never heard a breakbeat like it. I can't believe what i'm hearing.... Ashka for a long period of time, i though obScene was going to take over as number one, but after much though, i think both of you are joint first (It's so hard, because it's soo good). This might be a contender for the best obScene track in a long time. This is....beyond incredible.....just superb dude!

LunacyEcho - Wow i didn't know you had guitar chops dude, that solo was pretty daam awesome. It vaguely reminds me of a certain someone. Oh yes, Johnfn lol. Well only the swing and the synth line haha. This was pretty dope, well done!

Johnfn - This feels like a live session or something. I guess, a little teaser before the track, (Followed by a awkward long pause) then the track comes in, then a pause, and then a raised pitch version. Really nice, but very weirdly structured. Still though, good job!

Top 3 - Ashka, obScene, DDRKirby(ISQ)

Now Ashka and obScene are tied for first, because of how incredible it is, so for the real 3rd place i would go with cotmm68030, for his extremely well detailed 9 minute epic.

Awesome - dusthillguy, cotmm68030, Nukage, RAMPKORV, A2Z, DDRKirby(ISQ), Ashka, Ethansight, obScene, LunacyEcho.

Needs Work - DarkShadow, Koekepan, JH Sounds, Misael.K, Atmospherium, NickC, Arcana, Johnfn.

1. Nevermore
   Misael.K
2. Carried On The Wind
   Atmospherium
3. Drifting through the Calm
   DDRKirby(ISQ)

Another week, another missed chance to write something meaningful for every track. Really loved Nevermore.

1. Focus
   ashka
2. Drifting through the Calm
   DDRKirby(ISQ)
3. Death Flies Above
   obScene

ashka: I'm definitely in love with your style. So smooth, so delicate, so chill.

DDRKirby(ISQ): lovely entry! loved the pads and the uplifting emotional mood.

obScene: the raven flies over Silent Hill, great moody entry!

�

awesum: ashka, Atmospherium, DarkShadow, DDRKirby(ISQ), dusthillguy, ethansight, JH Sounds, johnfn, LunacyEcho, NickC, nukage, obScene.
good: A2Z, Arcana, cotmm68030, Koekepan, RAMPKORV, TheVideoGamer.�

1. Drifting through the Calm
   DDRKirby(ISQ)
2. Death Flies Above
   obScene
3. Nevermore
   Misael.K

DDRKirby - great melodies very emotive

Obscene - this belongs in an awesome video game level

Misael - excellent brooding take on the theme