HAH, I don't know who this is, but it's in it's own fucking class, that's for sure.

This almost sounds like it could be one of the big dogs, a spor, a noisia, a phace, etc etc.  I'm honestly glad I didn't rush my shit and enter this round, because this shit just plain rips.

Your arrangement is creative, interesting, and still tangable enough to mix with tons of shit.  Your mix is pretty damn good, maybe a pinch too many mastering effects, but I can hear everything clearly, and nothing clashes.  You lose a lot of your bassline's character in mono, I think it's spread a little too wide.  The higher frequencies of it I  mean.  That's a nitpick, if you couldn't tell.

Fun drum programming, great filter movement on those reeces, great effects, this is the whole package.  This gets sent to post/mastering, and it's getting dropped all over the place.  No shit.  Do it.

Mix = 4.5
Arrangement = 4.5

nice intro atmospherics, good left/right spread on those, the leads sound a bit too 'verbed throughout the track, but this is a solid arrangement. would have liked sub a little louder, but I can hear that it's there.  Most of the complaints I have in fact are about the flavor of the mix.  Things like how I would like to hear the bass be more rippy, and the drums harder, but that's just taste, it says nothing about what you've actually done, and you're not losing any points for it.

I'd REALLY like it if those shifts you did at the end of the track with the bassline, the pitch bends and such, were in more of the track.  Again though, that's just my taste.

The bottom line is this:  I can hear all of your parts well, and it's arranged in such a way that it's totally mixable.  It could certainly sound much better if it takes a trip to post-production and mastering, but I really can't take away points for much at all. 

This whole round is going to be tough for me to judge I think.  We're starting high.

arrangement: 5
mix: 3.5

this is one of my favorites, and I know that 3 seconds into the track. 

right off the bat this is great.  Brooding intro with weird untangable techy stabs and a crazy not quite hip hop not quite dnb beat to start things off.  high pass break, standard.   You've got great subs, and killer movement in this reece.  This is pretty much pro quality business.  I think it's a little fast but that's just my taste.  I'd PLAY it this fast probably, but you should probably leave a little room for djs to pitch up with.

You've got great spread, both eq and pan wise.  Almost everything comes through really nice-ly.  The second half of the main bass riff, the high passed part.. That needs to be louder.  Really, the high end of the bassline in general could stand to be louder.  That, and the outro coulda been a little smoother.  dont' need the high hat in it,  but that's just my taste.

Apart from that, this track like a few of these others just needs to be sent to post production, get mastered, and be pressed to vinyl.  Done deal bro.  Nice work.

EQ - 4
Arrangement - 4.5

wow, you like old school hardcore stylee a lot don't you?

So the first thing that stood out for me is that this track EQ wise is one of the better sounding tracks I've heard.  That being said I for some reason feel compelled to also point out that it's VERY MUCH not my style, like AT ALL, but that's okay.  I don't have to like it to see that you did a good job.

Your arrangement is solid, it stays pretty interesting throughout.  All of your track's elements come through pretty clearly.  I'm starting to sound like a broken record with my reviews I'm sure, but that's because all you cats are getting better and better leaving me with little else to say.

The one thing that will REALLY change this track is the addition of more breaks.  You have good drum programming, but what would make this track stand out is more of those oldschool style breaks, but with different drum samples.

It's so old school man.  I love and hate that about it.

Anyway, here's the bottom line:

MIX - 4
Arrangement - 4

hehe, this is a nice synthy intro.  I like it when people besides me use the shit out of synths instead of samples.  Melodies are right out of my book too.  Nice.

nice build on that bass, at first I was worried about the key.. it works, but for some reason it feels like it won't until you get used to it.  That's interesting.  is there a name for those chords in progression?

I really like the 2nd drop/bass stabs.  Too much reverb on a lot of this, but it's still cool.  Maybe not too much, but it sounds too fake.   It doesn't make it sound bigger, it just makes it sound plastic.  I believe we have to use reverb in small doses to create a sense of space, not as over the top effects.  I've recently learned that this is one of the BIG tricks that seperates the big guys from the rest of us.

So this has great melodies, and it's got a great structure.  It's certainly not a dancefloor number, but that's okay, I totally relate to the music of this track and I love it.  It's got this dark arabian sci fi sort of feel to it.  It sounds to me like the snare is too far to the right.  Maybe it's just my ears.  Maybe it's the reverb.  I'm not sure.  Honestly, I think if you take a little more time when you've had some time away from the track to go back and layer just a little more.

the main bassline sound sounds a little too tangible.  That's where most of the parts in this track suffer.  It's not much, but here's the thing, I hear the bassline, and instead of on those amazing tracks where you go "how did they do that?" I'm listening to this and thinking "yeah, that's 2 square waves detuned a little, probably with unison on them, blah blah blah".  I LOVE the way you arranged it, but the sounds are a little simple.

What I'd REALLY like to see is another version with completely different drum patterns, and lots of different drum samples.  With the music being as different and interesting as it is, it captures this special VIBE that if you did the drums a certain way, I could see it finding a home on metalheadz or commercial suicide.  It would need the above mentioned layering, just making the exact parts you have sounding a little bit thicker, and the drum change, and it would REALLY put you on the map as somebody with a unique voice.

Most of this is just my opinion, so let's get to the meat.

Nothing in your track clashes, I can hear everything.  There doesn't seem to be much sub, though you do have good low bass in the bassline you have.  This would sound much better with a good sub underneath.  Besides the previously mentioned snare pan, I feel like everything sits in a good place, and travels well when it does travel.

The arrangement is great.  this is where you shine.  This track moved me from the start, and that's the bottom line.  It never got boring, stayed interesting.  I can't wait to find out who did this one.

Mix = 3.5
Arrangement = 4.5

ah, the old 'break through the vocoder' trick.  I never finished a track with that trick.

be careful with panning like you have with this bassline.  If this got pressed to vinyl it'd be mixed to mono...   I mix in stereo, but here's a tip:  Always double check stuff in MONO when placing your pans.  If something is suddenly gone when you switch to mono, keep tweaking it.  It'll come together, and when it all sounds good in mono, it'll sound fucking GREAT in stereo.  I do that with most of these tracks when I judge them.  In this track, you lose a lot of the bassline's character, and almost ALL of the lead pads in mono.

Apart from that the track sounds really good.  The format is totally mixable, it'd be a great "some time before midnight" track on the dance floor.

It's simple, but it works.  Your drums and bassline don't clash at all.  The leads mix with the high hats a little..  The congos in the middle/2nd half of the track are a good example of good panning.  You can still hear em in mono.

Arrangment wise it's not exactly the most original thing I've heard, but it does have character, and as I said before, it works.  It would be easy to mix and it sounds good, and that's more than reason enough for djs all over the place to want to buy it.

Not much else to say here, just what I've said to almost everybody else, this would greatly benefit from a trip to post production/mastering, and I can totally see it getting picked up by somebody.  Probably not one that I'd buy, but one that I'd jam to if one of my friends dropped it.

Mix = 3.5
arrangement = 4.5

off the bat I like what I hear.  Lush pads and a bleepy thing. dark drums. quiet dark drums..  hmm.. ah.  the whole track is really quiet.  What bitrate is this mp3?  It sounds low.  I can't tell if it's the mp3 or if it's your breaks/samples.

That sounds like a rough start, but I really like this track.  If it just sounded crisper (which I don't think is you, I'm pretty convinced it's a low quality mp3..) it'd totally be something I'd play.  Right up my alley.  One of them anyway.

LOVE the arrangement.  As I said, very much my style, but more importantly, it's just plain good.  It stays interesting without going off on too many tangents.  It knows it's identity, and it makes us know it.  Nice drum programming, nice sample placement, good basslines, nice breakdowns, it's got the whole package.

It's going to be difficult for me to pass judgement on the mix.  It doesn't sound like anything is clashing, and that's the big thing.  It does sound like maybe the sub is a tuch too loud, tiring my ears a little, but that's a good thing, in that you wrote a great subline, and now that you know it's there you can bring it down a little and let the sub do the work rather than forcing it through the little speakers.  I'd love to hear this in a higher quality file.

Mix= 3.5
Arrangement = 4.5

this has kind of that old roni size or dillinja vibe to it.  Is that Essence I hear?  Sounds like her.

This is a kinda trippy track.  I'm thinking I know who made this one.  I may be wrong, but it sounds like it has a certain feel to it..  Anyway...

I have trouble judging tracks like this, because they're pretty far out of my arena of comfort.  It's easy to judge something when you can identify what it's competing with, but this track is kinda in it's own space.

I can hear everything, but I do wish the drums were harder.  I always wish the drums were harder.   Love the beat change in the last stretch, but other than that the track doesn't DO a whole lot.

My only major complaint with this track is that it's a bit too repetetive.  You have a bunch of little breaks and changes, but the 'hummmaaaayyeah' vocal gets pretty annoying long before it goes away.

the elements sit well in the mix.  some of the vocal/pad layers are a little bit too wide, (lost in mono) but not so much that it's a huge problem.  I just have to be nit picky.  Again I wish the kick were beefier, since there's not any real low sub in the track.  I mean, you have sub frequencies, but they're being used by fairly high notes.  These are just opinions though..

Bottom line:

Mix = 4.5
Arrangement = 3

lots of good intros this comp, this one too. 

I understand you're going for a 'dark' chord progression, but some of your chords really don't sound right.  The harmonized leads playing the notes in the weird harmony they're in dont' really go with the notes of your bassline.  They're placed in the right places, but I would reccomend fine tuning them more, or this won't be very enjoyable to listen to.  You can be WAY dark and still play notes that sound right together.

That's the big problem with this track.  There's no key, it's just kinda random notes tossed at each other in hopes that they'll fall properly.  Good samples, and you know how to arrange, and the eq is good too, but your key is just ICK.

the 2nd half with the reecey bassline isn't so bad..  but, is that the end of the track??  What happened there?  I don't know if maybe you're one of the new guys, but just in case, we generally post FULL tracks.  We're not here to judge clips.

So back to the bottom line:  I can tell you know what you're doing, and there is obvious skill in this track, but it needs to work musically and it doesn't.

Arrangement: 2.5 (key falls under arrangement)
mix: 4.5

Final note: if someone with more 'official' musical knowledge than me can show me that these chords are more common than I'll have to take this back, but generally my ears don't steer me wrong.