NUMQUAM, my instrumental death metal project...

[Akkush]

Hi there!

After many years of thinking, and constipation like attempts to write a song, here it is, my first one:


I could write pages from my motivation, influences (which is quit obvious for you guys I guess), but I'm more interested in your feedback!

What do you think about the overall vibe, sound?
Do you find it boring without vocals?
Is it even a little be catchy, memorable, re-listenable?
What do you think about the name, logo?

Every (constructive) idea, critique, opinion is welcomed!
If you really like it and you find it worthy for it, please share it!

Cheers!

[Svartmetall]

Guitars could use a little more fierceness (a little more drive) in their tone; left and right guitars sound like they're EQ'd the same, so maybe use a parametirc EQ to add a little distinction between them; the snare drum needs a bit more high end so it cuts through; maybe add little more low-mid to the kick drums so they have a bit more thud to them, they're a bit clicky atm. The tapping [part that comes in at 2:25 is very nice, but it could use some more high end to stand out against the background.

Otherwise, really liking this.

[zim]

very cool but since you're asking for critique i have to say the morbid angel influence isn't the least bit subtle here the galloping/unending double bass becomes fatiguing without something like vocals or different rhythms to give my ears a break.

the track sounds professional and it sounds like you know what you're doing. my biggest critique would be to dial back the obvious influence so much, this song is basically a summoning redemption remix. if you're going for an instrumental project, you should approach composition a little differently imo. vocals give the listener something to hang on to and the music behind them isn't always the most interesting because it might go unnoticed so the best stuff is saved for non-vocal parts. so without vocals you don't need to compose as if you have them, it really frees you up to be more creative with your compositions.

keep at it, i want to hear some more!

[Akkush]

Thanks for your feedback!

Svartmetall: Yeah, the guitars could sound a bit more aggressive. A felt to the trap to listen al these people saying "You don't need that much gain while recording" and "Don't set your EQ to a smiley curve", so I tried to be conservative with my settings. Next time I will be more experimental.

Zim: I get what you saying 100%. But to be honest, I would be happy If I find a "MA - Gateways copy" band on the net! XD
This was the tool that helped me write my first song, to use the same cliches that I like MA does.
Hopefully, as I write more songs, to more I will use my own ideas and be more experimental.
BUT!
What suggestion do you have for the "instrumental not being boring" part?
Do you mean I should have more small solo sections in the song? Or I should use more complex riffs?
To be honest I'm a very bad player, and the mean time I hate nowdays technical wankery and the "riff-salad" song structure (a dozen riffs in a song, and non of them are repeated),
so there should be another approach.

Well, this is my first song, maybe after ten I can write a decent one!


More feedback are welcome!

[zim]

i guess it all depends on what your goals are with your music. if part of your goal is wanting other people to listen to and connect with your music, then you're looking for a certain audience right? without sounding too negative, why would that audience want to listen to a ma clone? are you improving on that sound, are you adding in enough of your own style to stand out? i think it's easy for early songwriters to fall into the trap of wanting to sound like their favorites. i know i am guilty of that. don't just be satisfied with being a copy, aim higher, use your own voice!

my problem here is that i don't hear any ideas i haven't already heard in summoning redemption. for a first song i think it's awesome but with some changes you could have thrown some curve balls and made it more your own. for example, at 0:37, after the short harmony break you could have went in a completely different direction, dropping the triplet groove and maybe start pulling from another influence.

more riffs definitely help to keep things exciting, you don't have to go full riff soup though. i'm not a huge fan of repetition, the few songs i've made have a bunch of different riffs but don't necessarily go overboard. old cryptopsy is a great example of keeping things interesting, they have a lot of riff variation without going too far

i hope i'm not sounding too harsh, just rambling

[Akkush]

You are absolutly not harsh Zim, thanks for your input!

On my next song, I will try to mix my influences and my own ideas more.
And yeah, I need more riffs for a song, (this only has four, and some variations), but as I said I'm more of a fan of repetition.

[vO)))id]

Yeah this is total Summoning Redemption worship.
Not bad but also not very original.

I do really like the riff that starts at 1:30 and what the drums do there as well.

The tapping part is also too much like Summoning Redemption. I'd like to hear more You instead of Morbid Angel.
And like others said; more diversity in the drums will do a lot for the composition.

[Akkush]

Thanks vO)))id!

It's funny, I thought that you guys will say this is an "I" worship song because of the galloping.
The only similarities with Summoning for me is the slow octave harmony part. Trey does this tapping thing in other songs too.

I'm not arguing with you guys, I appreciate your input.
Maybe we think differently. I mean...

My golden standard album is Gateways...
Try to search the web for anything similar...
Can't find...
Try to search the web for anything similar to MA...
Not so much...
So, basically this was one of my motivations to start writing songs...



But as I said, the more songs I write, the more I can experiment, mix influences, and let go this "aiding tool"...

Cheers!

[vO)))id]

Definitely continue with this! You will find your own voice eventually.

[Olden Polynice]

Plot twist: Trey has gone through the portal and got confused what year it is and who he's sending music to.

Sounds alright though.

[Akkush]

Plot twist: Trey has gone through the portal and got confused what year it is and who he's sending music to.

Sounds alright though.

Thank you, big compliment!