I put 2 songs in my music website: “So Alive He Is” is on top, and “Night of the Revelation” is the next song down. Please tell me how you like the music and how it can be improved, and I will return the favor (leave me a link). Here is my link:
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Good stuff! I’m at work at the moment, so I couldn’t listen to it very loudly. I’ll check them out again tonight!
holster,
Thank you for listening and replying! I will see if I can find your music…I couldn’t find a thread by you in this forum. Leave me a link if you wish.
Both of these songs sound great. You have an excellent selection of sounds that are familiar and yet different enough that we are drawn in to your music. You combine and orchestrate your sounds very well and the recordings are very good also. Vocals are good and fit the material well although the lyrics are a bit hard to understand. You are also versatile in that these two songs stylistically are not similar and yet have similar qualities of good sound and balance between parts; you have a good ear for that.
What I’m not hearing here so much are ‘hooks’. Having a hook is an old and probably overused device and is obvious when you hear it, like a memorable chorus that sticks in your mind long after the song is over. My ears search for hooks automatically which is not a good thing but I have to admit that it is true.
The guitar song could use some more development I feel. Basically what you have is a verse and an extended riff which both repeat at 2:30. It works well but I’d like to hear more, not so much lengthwise as some different material. Drums seem a bit underused and not punchy enough for this style.
All in all though you doing very well with these two!
Thank you for the reviews, I appreciate it! I will now seek out your music. 
Hi Aaron,
Just listened to both tracks and agree with Ingolee. Interesting sounds, interesting patterns, but not a strong hook. I like the way all the instruments - including the drums - on Night of the revelation follow the same pattern: that’s a sort of hook. But because the pattern is repeated over and over, it’s not a hook anymore. I would have used more sparingly, only at the start of a new verse for instance, and then gone into a simple heavy 2-4 hard rock drum pattern for the rest of verse. The jagged bass and guitar riffs as well as the vocals would start to roll (as in rock and roll) on a strong backbeat I imagine.
Another thing you might want to consider: the bass guitar sounded very up front in comparison to the vocals other instruments in particular the electric guitars. Getting the bass a bit further back in the mix (by using a bit of reverb) might glue the whole thing together a bit more.
Another reverb thing: using a lot of it on the vocals is a great effect but tends to make the vocals harder to hear. What you could do is lessen the reverb, but combine it with some short delay. You’ll still have a big sound, but more up front. And then for effect add some way out reverb on a separate reverb channel which you apply maybe a couple of times, only at the end of a verse or chorus using automation.
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Aef,
Thank you for the reviews! In my mind, the electric bass in “Night of the Revelation” sounds better than my vocals, so that’s why I had the bass kind of loud. I will now seek out your music.