Epic.
Yeah, I'm going to use the same review summary as DraknaarKau. This is a very epic and fast-paced song, and I enjoyed it all the way through. It's very high quality, and powerful, and it shows you worked hard on it. Awesome job on this man, I can't believe I missed out on so much by not reviewing your older requests these last few weeks.
The melodies are very heroic, and I really enjoyed them. The staccato strings' melodies were especially heroic, but at the same time they sound very war-like. Loved the notes you played on the high strings too. Also, the emotional piano melody at 0:52 was awesome and the glissando at the end of it was a nice touch, but I couldn't help but think that it could have been softer with a more powerful crescendo onto the next part. I think you should take advantage of the softer parts of a song to make the section which follows it sound much more epic and powerful. Although I have an obsession towards epic and powerful so I should shut up now :3.
The instruments were very high quality. Which VST did you use? I especially liked the choirs you used throughout the song, heard mostly in the piano part. They added to the epic feel of the song and were a very nice touch. Maybe that's just because I love adding choirs to my song, though :D. That flute (I don't know if it is or I'm just imagining it - I'm deaf from one ear so I can't hear the instruments properly) sounded really cool and added to the 'medieval' sound that this song has. Finally, I also liked the tremolo strings you used in the background. They definitely added to the tension.
The one thing that truly ruined this piece for me (and made me give you a 9) would be the mix. The sounds sort of blur together with each other at times, and I'm not really hearing the clear sound that I want to hear at times. This could either be because of too much use of reverb, bad volume levels, lack of proper EQing or lack of mastering, but I think that a lot of the time the song really sounds blurry and hard to keep track of. Could just be me though, I don't know...
The transitions on the whole were superb. The only transition which I didn't really like would be the one at 0:52. I like the fact that you added those wind-chimes to move to the piano part, but I definitely think that the transition itself is too abrupt since it switches from epic and powerful to slow and soft too suddenly, or maybe it's because the piano is introduced out of nowhere. The transition at 1:32 sounded a bit weird at first but I'm starting to like it now xD. TL;DR: transitions were good except the one at 0:52 in my opinion.
The structure is very good. I would've liked to hear more of a climax at the end of the song, and seen a few more softer parts in the song, even if for a few bars, but still, that might be a bit too much to ask for to try and fit in an only 2-minute long song. While on the subject, I think you could've made the song a bit longer, though :P. Ah well, as for the variety, I was really impressed. It's one of the reasons why I prefer orchestral submissions so much more than techno and trance; in orchestral you don't repeat the same thing over and over and techno/trance has been made so much, that it's become generic and overused. You did a great job varying the song :D.
The intro was very good, especially the prominent tremolo strings playing along with the staccatos. The ending was a bit overused as an ending for orchestral songs, but worked well here :P.
Finally, on to the percussion: I loved it. The occasional cymbal crashes were really mighty and awesome. Gong was a bit weak, though. Still, the snare fit really well in the song and added to the war-ish feel especially since it was so powerful. I would've welcomed more orchestral percussion like bass drums and timpanis, but the percussion you have now is amazing.
Overall, this is one hell of a good piece. I enjoyed listening to it, it was really epic and I hope you keep up the amazing work. I think you should focus on improving the blurry mix and that one transition at 0:52.
9/10
5/5
-Review Request Club-