15 Minute Prog Epic

[SubjectRuin]

Hey, I'm new here but I'm a huge Symphony X fan and I'd like to show you guys a song from an album I just got finished writing and hopefully get some constructive feedback on it from people who obviously know and appreciate the genre.

The song is called 'The Artist, The Sage, and The Jester' and it's a fifteen minute instrumental prog epic in three parts. There are a lot of Symphony X esque parts, including a few orchestral sections.

Unfortunately, SoundClick messed up my song when it was uploaded, so you have to download the file to hear it properly. If you stream it, you get some weird sped-up version because the song was too long. Anyway, download it if you like, excuse the bad mp3 quality, and tell me what you think!

http://www.soundclick.com/util/downloadSong.cfm?ID=2856163&key=70BE3679-6

 

[NoSoup4you]

Good for you, I'm working on a longer song myself at the moment.

Listening to it right now, at 4:00. The riffs are pretty catchy and epic sounding, and I like the keyboard and piano stuff. The drums are a little bland sounding, but they're not that bad and it can't be helped anyway. I've been using samples (they are samples right?) too so I know how that is. Everything is compositionally sound so it's obvious you know what you're doing. The guitar sound could do with some more heaviness but again that's probably not your fault. What equipment are you using? One last thing I'd like to say is, a woodwind of some sort, or at least a keyboard would sound way better than the tremolo guitar stuff starting at 7:48 or so. I'm kind of reviewing as I listen, so I have to go back here and add stuff lol.

Probably the biggest problem, but a difficult one to address, is song form. With pretty much any song of this length, the sections can be great individually but not make sense in the context of the whole song until you listen to it a few times. Same thing happened with The Odyssey and Divine Wings of Tragedy, so idk how it'll turn out. I'm trying to work that sort of stuff out in my own projects so this is a good reference for me, I think.

OK, so as I'm finishing this post it's at 10:08. I like the orchestral and piano stuff but again it didn't seem to have much to do with what came before it. Badass melodies at 10:30 though. I'll edit when it's over I guess.

 

[!Aviso!]

I downloaded it and am listening now...

I love the intro. It's unique, not the typical prog thing.

I like the next part with the unison guitars and harmonies, especially the main hook. Very very cool.

Now here's the piano part. Ooo! Good changeup there. Almost Zappa-esque in delivery, but the overal structure is straight-up prog metal. This is very cool.

I like how overall, you've got an old-school Dream Theater kind of a feel, back before they became a lame prog cover band (ha ha ). It has some good modern-day relevence, which is definitely not something I expected to see on an internet message board. This is well-written, classy stuff in my opinion. I like how it has sort of a good, creepy vibe even though it's not expressly EVIL, per se. It makes things mysterious, even when you're being upbeat.

In contrast to the other reviewer, I found the development of the piece to be pretty good. I like how each section incorporates a unique sound, whether it's a keyboard patch or a guitar effect, or just the overall composition. Yet when it's all said and done, each individual piece feels like it belongs in the composition as a whole. Well done.

Wow, this orchestral bit (around 9:30 or so) is well put together. What I like best about it is how everything works cohesively. Sometimes when people try to do the orchestral thing, there's too much of a contrast between the "orchestra" and the "band," if you know what I mean. But you're like a MASTER of tones! Seriously. I love how all your tones work together. It's really cool.

Love this groovey bit around 12:00. Definitely my favorite section so far. The way the guitars and keyboards work together is almost Spocks Beard-ish. This must have taken a long time to write. And once again, all those great tones. I dig it.

Okay, now my only criticism is how the end just drops off. I kept expecting you to work your way back to the first two sections, but it never really happened. If I were you, I would maybe take out that last bit and bring the piece back around to the beginning, maybe repeating some of the other themes along the way for the big finish.

But, fuck man... Who am I to criticize? That was really really well done. I'm very impressed.

If you have more music to share, I'm interested in hearing it, but I don't check this board very often. Maybe send me an email: yogurt_king@hotmail.com ... I'd love to hear what else you've got cooking.

 

[arglebargle]

I would definitely like to hear a 128+ kbs version! I hate crappy bitrates on mp3s.

Maybe upload a better version using yousendit.com or something?

 

[SubjectRuin]

Thanks a lot for the positive reviews and helpful criticism, I definately appreciate it. Arglebargle, here is the hig quality version of the song as it appears on the album:

http://s21.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=22GE6FK2GQKPS2GEUHJG5SQK05

!Aviso! I'll fire off an e-mail to you in a bit, as I have quite a bit cooking at the moment...

 

[arglebargle]

Excellent, thanks!

Your track is epic indeed, and I hear a lot of different influences going on. I'm not sure I can do it justice by going into specifics... suffice to say that it's cool as hell.