1. Spirit of the Caldera
   Souperion
2. Trance and Burn
   TheVideoGamer
3. Burning Heat Speed Symphony
   TheVodouQueen

The weight of my voting bonus points weighs heavily upon me, such fun compositions all around! Lots I loved about everyone's piece.

Disclaimer, I felt morally obligated to include as many fire/volcano related analogies and puns as possible. Mwahahaha.

Souperion, you created a lovely volcanic smoothie of east-Asian flair, metal chugging, and heavenly synthetics. There's a lovely, wafting atmosphere to the whole piece, complimented by the gongs and cymbals thrumming in the volcanic core. The slightly muted guitar adds a strong contrast on the bass as the strings and woodwinds dance on the searing winds, laced with the saw waves sparkling on the cinders. Love your variations to the melody, invoked some exotic flavor to the whole thing. The gentler pulse also let the bass notes come out well. Great work.

TheVideoGamer, you've invoked a sizzling fever-trance that slaps sooooo well. You're really inflaming my dormant need for more trance tunes in my day! The rhythm and beats flow to a pyroclastic wave of shimmering, pulsating chords. You bring out those elements of the song in an eruption of flair and style that reimagines the original source beautifully! Your precise variations on the bass line spark fresh life in its progression. And the halfway point breaking down into a slow, gentle movement was artfully done. Excellent work!

TheVodouQueen, you brought an eclectic collection of fuel to feed the flames, and it burst to life! The whole thing flows through vibes that are similar yet unique. That lo-fi sounding violin intro was pretty neat. The pulsing chords (sound like some synth pianos at work!) are airy and echoing along with the crackling rhythm. Loved the percussion loops, fantastic rhythm. I kept thinking that squeaky vocal loop was saying "Fire makes critinas hot" for some reason... That's not a feedback, just a silly observation. HOW are there so many great voice clips about fire and stuff!? Those add to a kind of montage feel for this piece, which is a cool effect. The instruments are pretty nice and clear too. Like the addition of Heat Man's stage, pretty appropriate I think! Great work!

1. Burning Heat Speed Symphony
   TheVodouQueen
2. Spirit of the Caldera
   Souperion
3. 
   

Extremely close call, as both are winners in my book, but after listening, i think TheVodouQueen should get the win. From the top yes?

Wassup Thunder - Really nice rock vibes dude, i've started to uncover your signature sound, and it's done beautifully. The strings are a nice addition to the piece, really makes it cinematic in flavour. The melody also transcribes super well to. Because this is a very melodically driven piece (Essentially a solo of some kind), the way it blends with the strings and drums is lovely. The orchestral flourishes are awesome, i feel this is the best part of the track. Honestly i'm struggling to find any real flaws, the way it flows, and everything is just perfect. Well ok, maybe it does get a bit too consistent, i would have stripped the drums, and made more of a solo instrument thing, but however, that's more of a minor one, and i can live without it, especially since you've transcribed all the melodies into different instruments, in lovely ways. As a whole, i enjoyed all of this, well done!

Souperion - Ooh i love the Chinese instrumentation, this is super-creative. This is a super lovely idea, and definitely moves into completely original territories. The melody, works super well for this, it's nice and forward, and blends excellently with the strings and guitars. The synths are an amazing touch too. For this to truly shine, i would add more electronic beats, and mix them into a hybrid. The way you add the synths (Largely because there is so few electronic elements in this one, or at least not as many), kind of makes me feel this way. The Chinese styled instrumentation though, just makes the remix for me. Towards the end, exemplifies how much of a beat really is needed, even if it's a rock groove. I don't know, i find the taiko instruments, or whatever to be a little flat, and too much in the background. The arrangement though is on-point, the level of originality and creativity is awesome. Well done!

TheVodouQueen - Starts of with a nice simple violin melody, before building up to some great synth sounds. The vocals are quite fitting actually, not expecting them to work so well. When the beats come in, it actually makes the track lively with a lot of character. I love how the fast vibe actually helps the source more, it gives it a lot of energy. The bass is super funky, i love the syncopation of the whole, it's my highlight for sure. The vocal samples, could be better integrated, but it's just me. It's not that i don't like them, it's just i feel they are just dropped in without context. The grooves on here are infectious for me, i love the synth lead, this kind of minimalism i think just works so well. The only problem really, as i'm picking upon when listening, is the vocals (And maybe the abrupt ending, however this one is a minor nitpick, so take that as you will), the rest is just so well done, and definitely groovy! The excellent grooves in this one, give you the edge over Souperions, however both deserve to win. Well done!

1. Trance and Burn
   TheVideoGamer
2. Burning Heat Speed Symphony
   TheVodouQueen
3. 
   

Not feeling talkative right now, but some really great stuff this round. Ya'll should be proud.

1. Trance and Burn
   TheVideoGamer
2. Spirit of the Caldera
   Souperion
3. BONUS: Magmazoic Era
   Wassup Thunder

It's that time again... Another hard choice made, another vote down. :D

----

1) 'Trance and Burn' - TheVideoGamer

Pros:

* From the very start, we get that serious, hardcore, thumping bass beat that carries the rest of the song. Good stuff, I like it a lot. :D

* I like how you placed the chords on an incremental build-up at the start, and put a lot of slight twists and character into other aspects of the song as well to strengthen the bass and 'EDM'-elements. They're mostly the undertone of the piece in the original, and like you said, much more focus is gleaned on the electric guitar riffs in that. So it's a nice change up, in flipping that concept entirely on its head. :)

* I like whatever synth you used for the main melody, and it melds well with the deeper harmony lines. That "void" of atmospheric, almost haunting ambience between 2:55 and 3:20--before the return of the harmony--is a real treat as well. And I like how it's used as a part of the backing for portions of the song thereafter. It gives the song not only a genre-difference but a weight distribution difference between instruments and synths, and the swap between the heavier and lighter sections in your remix verses the original is just such an interesting take, and very creative. You take us on a roller coaster ride of sounds, never keeping too much on a particular beat phrase except for the beginning and the end. They're nice touches.

Critique:

* Would've been nice to get some vox samples up in this bitch, NGL. xD But then again, I seem to be a sucker for them, especially in Electronica music.

* I think you could've played a little bit more of the triangle percussion in spots in the song, or have a bit more variation to your drum and bass. I know most Trance aspires to "keep the beat" in an almost unending, unchanging fashion, but maybe some volume, panning and/or note change-ups in the thumping bass beat would've made the song that little bit more lively. :)

* I don't have much more to say or anything that stuck out to me as mixing issues, or just compositional thoughts. Great job on the song overall. :D

2) 'Spirit of the Caldera' - Souperion

Pros:

* Love your woodwinds and the Asian string section. Those two are the strongest parts of this song.

* Everything's so crisp and clear--and none of it, save the synth, sounds "synthetic" or "unnatural". Big kudos there from me. <3

* I love almost every aspect of this song, from the genre choice, to the layering between instruments. I really hate to bring down the nitpick hammer, but it's the only reason that Gamer's took first for me. It wasn't a matter of preference, because between the two I preferred this, but a matter of the more well-rounded "perfected" final composition I suppose... :'(

Critique:

* I'll have to admit--although there is little issue I have with the entire song, and TBH I extremely like it, the only thing that kept me from placing this first is that your instruments sound a little on the rough side, but nothing a bit more EQ couldn't fix. I know these are supposed to be more "natural-sounding", because it's very nomadic / tribal, but some parts just came in that tad too loud or too shrill (e.g. 0:02--right at the start). Mostly it's the higher flute tones that needed a bit more balancing, to me anyways.

* I wasn't a big fan of the synth being used for your chords / harmony in the song. I think either some form of string (like violin or cellos) or percussion probably would've done better, (like beaded maracas or washboard). I think "going all in" on the nature in this song would've pushed this one to the max potential.

* I like the smaller drums, but in some parts--like towards the middle and the ending--I would've liked to hear like...big timpani or taiko going on. Just huge vibrato and big bangs to go with the heightening string and flute sections of the melody and harmony. Maybe a gong? I'm unsure, but defo by the 3:20 mark, if not sooner, I expected some big crash and bangs after the softer parts. Not saying the softer drumworks weren't beautiful in their own right--they certainly were--but I felt the sort of, mystical dance "spirit" was burning out towards the end rather than those ethereal fires growing higher and higher.

--BONUS--

+ 'Magmazoic Era' - Wassup Thunder

Pros:

* I really like the small variations I heard in the melody lines (e.g. @ 0:57, and further). As usual, you have a very good panache for improv on beats and melodies to make them fit within the original scope, but sound far different, in a good way. :)

* I liked the drums. I can hear the variation in the hit velocities and volume a little bit. Good stuff right there.

* Your strongest part was definitely the Hard Rock element of the song, rather than the Orchestral element. And the strings. :D Very lovely! Along with the magma-SFX, really did make it feel like a fire-emblazoned T-Rex was shredding air back in the Stone Age. :P

Critique:

* The piece felt oddly...overwhelming, in terms of there's too much going on from the very start, and many instruments not only overlaying atop each other, but all at the forefront of the soundscape. Not much but the drums is really "in the background", so to speak, and there's no build-ups either...

* Harmony chords were a bit too loud and swallowing up the melody piano whenever they were played together. I also wasn't a huge fan of the type of piano used--was too soft and meek by comparison to everything else. If the large rift / dichotomy between Rock and Orchestra was what you were going for, it was achieved here, but...unfortunately they didn't meld well for me. :(

* The Rock n' Roll definitely swamped the Orchestra...and I really wish it didn't. The strongest element of the orchestral bits were the violins, but that might simply be because they were able to overpower the strong drum and bass enough to be heard and mesh well. I will say that of the "softer" parts, your flutes were strongest there, and made for a good midground of the song. But I think the piano and synths were drowned out. Sadly, for me, the song didn't pick up and go all out--but still remain balanced--until 3:13 to the very end, where that Orchestra took almost a full backseat and the Rock kicked in. But overall, a nice song that kind of stayed traditional to the original, but added a nice flavoured spice to the mix. :)

1. Trance and Burn
   TheVideoGamer
2. Burning Heat Speed Symphony
   TheVodouQueen
3. Spirit of the Caldera
   Souperion

Wassup Thunder - Nice style, enjoyed the ending a lot.

Souperion - Liked how the asian influences are combined with the source.

TheVodouQueen - The instrument at the beginning is a bit too sharp, but it's an interesting way to start this electronic take on the source. There's many different stuff in it and I like that. Also enjoyed how you added the Heat Man source in the song.

TheVideoGamer - Great build-up. It's mixed together in a great way.