1. Happy Birthday
   DJohn
2. Bad Birthday
   nukage
3. Stealth Party
   ethansight

DJohn absolutely nailed the solo birthday experience.

I have no words.

1. Happy Birthday
   DJohn
2. party for one
   coloradoweeks
3. I Miss You Mom
   TheVideoGamer

emotions rush through me you guys

1. Happy Birthday
   DJohn
2. Separate Birthdays
   Dex
3. Solitary Rave
   DDRKirby(ISQ)

All comments are replied to on Discord, making this section irrelevant. Onto the voting!

TheVideoGamer - The images could be interpreted in a lot of ways, including a Birthday Party for one, or maybe feelings of a ruined Birthday, but instead i chose to go for a Birthday without the ones you love. So the images are of 2 people being depressed, and i thought, "How about we imagine that they had just recently lost their mother, on the eve of their birthday", which is what the track is all about. Now i must stress the importance that my mother is still alive, and everything portrayed here is purely fictional. Not that i need to explain it, but i don't want you guys getting the wrong impression. As for the track, it's quite simple from a arrangement stand point, where we build up to a sort of climax, and then we unbuild our way back down. Bulk of the melodic material is comprised of a long almost sparkly arp, a bell synth, and a slow fading pad providing the much needed emotion for this piece. I tried to make as emotional as possible to the best of my ability. The rest is a soft sub bass, a dynamic lead melody, which perhaps was done on a slightly harsh lead, but that's time for you lol, and a alarm sound of all things, being pitched to the key, to just add that little bit more. All in all this is pretty good, it has a lot more potential, but i think it's also great as it is. Oh well, glad you liked it anyways!

THEGREATDESTROYER22 - Sorry to hear your week hasn't been great, best wishes to you. Nice deep bass here, really feel that punchy. Those drums are very crispy, i can feel were going for that proto industrial metal vibe. The track, despite the distortion doesn't really feel intense, if anything it feels a bit on the tamer side. I think there is vocals here, but i can't tell, because they're so quiet in the mix, it becomes almost like a sound effect. The track has a tight groove, i do love it, but i feel there is a bit of hollowness going on, and i don't know if that's me or not. Either way it was definately cool, and that glitchy ending was fire, it has a lot of potential, so don't be discouraged. Good job!

DarkShadow - Man that waveform is.....loud this week. I mean i love me some hardcore, but man this one is.....crunchy. I do like how you went for more a straight gabber feel, than a glitchy almost IDM like hardcore feel, despite the fact we still have the DarkShadow time signature craziness going on. Ending was pretty cool actual, the growls were very interesting, but alas i have a limit to loudness even if it's intentional. Sorry dude, good job!

Koekepan - Were in that delay Koekepan period again lol. Very minimal bass stabs, and some intricate lead synth workouts, this time aided by some cool strummed bells, that are played in a way that it reminds me of a harp. The chords are more on the moody side, both in how it's played and the volume, but i do love how it swells in and out throughout the piece, so it's not too quiet. The strummed bells are really interesting, it makes for a kind of cool approach, normally you play them in a tubular bell like way, yet this was interesting. The panning is also top notch, lots of surround style fading here, it makes for a super immersive experience. Ending was abrupt, thought i'd point that out there. It's not a leftfield piece from you, more or less these are the classic Koekepan ingredients used to make a piece, but it's done exceptionally well, if anything it's voting worthy, i don't think there's anything else to say other than, awesome work!

Nukage - DUDE AT LEAST GIVE ME AN INTRO LOL. This is hard as hell of course, but then again Metal is becoming your Default genre over Dubstep, to the point where your Dubstep pieces are becoming more redundant. Personally i don't think the mix is good as last time, i'm sorry. I find the vocals are a bit masked by the guitar work, but yet at the time it might be a bit too boosted. Whole mix is crunchy, but not as crunchy as last week, yet it is still crunchy. The vibe is awesome, but unexpected when you're not prepped with an intro. Unlike last time where the sheer volume and work, really made me impressed, this one (Whilst also making me impressed), isn't enough for me to give you this one. I just find the mix a little too overblown and compressed for my liking, even for a metal track like this. Still though it is very catchy, and has great melody elements, so nothing is lost. Good job!

DDRKirby(ISQ) - Ooh we going the 8-bit route, but this time with some proper jungle chords going on, (Despite the fact the beat is more of a hyper rave kind of thing). The melody is a classic DDR staple, but yet somehow it feels very familiar. There is a lot of quotations from past NES/SNES games here even if unintentional, i can feel the Kirby/DK/FF influence in this. This one is only 2:38 but man you just keep cramming in as much as you can into this, it's pretty awesome. There is hardly a single ounce of repetition, sometimes i think damn man, lemme process this section first before we move on lol. Still though, nothing else to say, it was another DDR banger, with a lovely melodic idea. It was so good i placed it third. Amazing work!

Ethansight - That is some lovely piano playing, with some sick jazzy chordal material. Wasn't expecting a transition to some funky bongo work, but in OHC expect the unexpected lol. I love how it slowly builds up to the perfect climax, the kick drum is tight as hell, and the chords, whilst moody was also fire. I do wish the piano made more of a return than the intro, i felt that could have also formed the backbone of the whole piece, whereas in the middle it feels a bit flat, because you're taking a while to build things up. All in all i still will give you this, because i found more to like than dislike, however i also think it could be given even more potential, because that piano intro was amazing. Well done!

Dex - I don't think i've heard a proper Punk Rock piece from you in ages, so i'm kind of glad. I love the contrast between the intense parts and the more lighter folky parks, it's great, the flute melody is not something i was expecting, but man it works super well here. The guitar work is fire as always, and the different changes in the arrangement was also really great. This isn't the piece that gives me a lot to say, but it is done extremely well either way. The melody is very well executed, and the fills and chugging moments were extremely fire as hell. It was just great stuff, so great i placed it on the 2nd spot, amazing work!

Coloradoweeks - A very short one from you, but that's ok. The intro felt like it was from a Drake record i don't know. The chord progression seems very K-Pop. I think you're a secret BTS stan lol. The beat is very cool, it has a kind of a electro vibe despite the fact it's not really got a kick or a snare as such. I don't know if it's me, but the vocals are very quiet (I mean the whole mix is quiet, but i find the vocals to be especially quiet), not unlistenable, i can still hear them, it's just i think they could come up a bit. It is very short, so a few repeats were needed to properly process it, but as a whole it was really nice. Sadly not enough for me to contemplate voting, but it was enough for me to put it in the awesome section, there were more to like than dislike. Well done!

DJohn - A theme this sad is obviously right up you're alley lol. I love the play on Happy Birthday, you've made it into a minor sad ballad. Sure it seems obvious, maybe even a cliché, but man it just works so well in this context, i feel like i'm in a drama movie, maybe even a medieval drama. For a second i thought it was a very short piece, because of a fake out you introduce at the beginning, but then you flip it and start going full on David John original. Man to hear original lyrics set against a minor key rendition of the Happy Birthday theme, and to be done super well and not in a cheesy way, is kind of commendable. This one was theme accurate and well written. In fact it was so good i put it on the top spot, i loved it, incredible work!

Meistr (And Company) - Woah these are a lot of guests. Either way, i say hi to all of them. Guess were not getting an intro this week, just a quick fill and straight into the beat. Man the groove is catchy, but dude that kickdrum is overblown, it's destroying the master so hard, it's for the most part what i hear. Each vocalist really brought something to the table, i love it. I did notice the room tone for each one, it's like i'm in some apartment and each room is a different studio or something. If the kickdrum wasn't so in your face, and maybe the chords were brought up a little to match the intensity, i'd think you'd have a voting worthy banger here, but despite my critiques the song is not bad at all, it is quite catchy, with a lot of potential. Good job to everyone here!

Arcana - Another Happy Birthday rendition, but this time with a cool time signature change, and a bit of an arrangement change. Instead of letting the piece play in its entirety, you decide to cut of the end, so we just loop a bit of it. This track is kind of all over the place, you introduce so many sections in quick succession i couldn't keep track, and when you finally focus on a section, it lasts for 10 seconds and then the piece is over lol. It's as if you made ADHD type beat haha. What i did hear was cool, but some parts did strike me as interesting. There was a part towards the beginning that was a little weird melodic wise. I think you took some of what you learnt from Autumn leaves and made it a little more jazzy. You know this is actually pretty cool, i think we could go further and refine it, to make it perhaps a little less dissonant, and maybe a little longer to allow for each section to develop. Vocals were great this week, yeah i sense a lot of potential here, so don't be discouraged. Good job!

Misael.K - Honestly, this was the last place i was expecting to be honest. I assumed you were gonna go for a full piano ballad or something, but no this is more of a Dex type beat, but with a nice sync melody that is sooo crushed, it's struggling to breath lol. The track is fire, but sadly the mix....could do with a bit of polish, sorry. It feels extremely squished overall, and the guitar work is struggling to be identified, it's almost as if it's just one giant mass, rather than a definable element like a drum kit, or a guitar part. Drums maybe could also benefit from a boost. However ignoring the mix, you do make up for it with a really nice composition, it's got a great melody, and a really cool chord progression. Honestly i sense a lot of potential here, it is a lot of fun, and a really nice rock piece, so don't be discouraged. Good job!

Top 3 - DJohn, Dex, DDRKirby(ISQ).

Koekepan could also be a contender for the list.

Awesome - Koekepan, DDRKirby(ISQ), Ethansight, Dex, Coloradoweeks, DJohn.

Needs Work - THEGREATDESTROYER22, DarkShadow, Nukage, Meistr, Arcana, Misael.K.

1. I Miss You Mom
   TheVideoGamer
2. party for one
   coloradoweeks
3. Stealth Party
   ethansight

awesum: coloradoweeks, DarkShadow, DDRKirby(ISQ), DJohn, ethansight, THEGREATDESTROYER22, TheVideoGamer.
good: Arcana, Dex, Koekepan, Meistr, nukage.