Never Look Down -- Free 10-day release

[Alter-Fox]

So, for the sake of publicity (and mostly for another sake that I'm not saying here but could make me a lot of money) I'm releasing my album Never Look Down free for 10 days. After those 10 days are up you won't be able to download the album anymore until I start selling it in September. So if you want to get it free, then get it now.

Is there a catch? Yes there is, it's voluntary but highly encouraged -- as it's the main reason I'm making an early release for free. I need anyone who downloads the album to listen to it, along with the two limited-edition bonus tracks, and tell me within fourteen days which three songs they think are the best. This is very important. So important that if I could make it mandatory I would -- and there are very few things I would ever make mandatory if I had the power to.
I'm setting this topic up across several forums but please, only vote on one of them. After the fourteen days are over I'll tally the votes across all the forums where I posted this, and I don't want to be counting anyone twice by mistake.

And now that's out of the way...
http://205.196.121.55/jlg4zwrp7krg/6sr0 ... elease.zip

What you get in this release:
The entire 12 track album in 320kbps mp3; no DRM, the files don't delete themselves after 10 days or anything like that... but be sure you back them up if you like them because after August 19th you won't be able to download them again. You can do anything you'd like with them as long as it's legal -- so no pirating or plaigarizing . They are copyrighted.
You get my original lyric sheets that I used to perform the vocals for each track, along with author's notes -- some creator insight, or just silly jokes, about each song.
And you get two bonus tracks from The B-Side Abyss that will not be on the final release.

What you don't get in this release:
There is no album artwork yet, I've been thinking of the types of artwork I might want to commission but I haven't made a final decision on either artwork or artist yet.
And this release does not include the single bonus track that will be included on the final release.

[Isaac]

I need to buy more headphones. I crushed my last ones, by accident when running up some stairs in the dark.

[Valin Halcyon]

Downloading with prejudice...

[Isaac]

I meant to buy headphones yesterday. Today I will, after I deposit my paycheck, I keep forgetting to deposit...

[Valin Halcyon]

Frankly, while I like...hmm, hard to explain...the instruments used?, I don't much like the fact that the melodies aren't strong, and therefore forgettable. The over reliance on the digitized voice track causes them all to sound a lot alike, to the point that I have trouble knowing when the track has changed. Don't get me wrong, this is some of the best Descent-inspired stuff I've heard in a long time, and would like to hear more, but I get the feeling that you are so locked into a very specific style to the point that it damages the album as a whole.

Remember, the key to a memorable song is a strong, and simple, melody. For example, just by mentioning it, I can make the Super Mario theme start up in your head (unless you never played any of the games, in which case you suck). Also, you need more styles, by which I mean things like; slow, fast, heavy digital, a voice track, dark, dark & creepy, etc. Most music artists try to stick to the "2-per" rule, that is, no more than 2 songs per album of the same exact style. It forces them to rethink themselves and reconsider their own music. It prevents them from becoming "stale", and by result, uninteresting.

Looking forward to hearing your next song/album!

[Isaac]

I got my headphones and uninstalled pulseaudio

I listened to two songs so far, but suddenly my audio stopped working. I'll have to see wtf happened. I think I'll need to install pulseaudio again.

[Sirius]

(unless you never played any of the games, in which case you suck).

...yeah, I guess I won't try to argue that one

P.S. In general I agree with Valin's post though, particularly on the differences between songs; a few days after I heard it I don't remember any parts of any of them. That's a common problem with a lot of electronica, to be honest, but I can remember some artists who got past it (Electrostatic around 10 years ago, I haven't really listened to the genre much since then though).
Also, the vocals sound kind of like you're trying to bury them... there's an almost rap-like monotone going on, which is maybe okay if you want to aim for that, not my personal cup of tea but how you want to make music is, ultimately, up to you. I'd rather have had a few instrumental-only tracks for variety if that's the case though

[Valin Halcyon]

(unless you never played any of the games, in which case you suck).

...yeah, I guess I won't try to argue that one

Here you go: http://www.playnesflashgames.com/ninten ... os.-1.html


(Requires Java. X to jump, Z to run & shoot fire, and Arrow keys to move)

[Isaac]

So I got my new earbuds, which have amazing bass making great use of the marshmallow foam, and loaded all my songs onto my new phone.
Then I drove around with your songs playing. I got a great feel for the album and was able to find the ones I liked, which is what you really wanted to know.
For an album as long as this one it’s difficult to tell how good the songs are just by listening to the first few minutes of each track, which is what I’m sure many dbber’s did here.
The other song I checked that wasn’t listed within the first 8 was “errorstorm”.
This album is pretty cool to drive to, meaning it would probably be good background music for any multiplayer shooter. I was hugging curves and maneuvering around people with these songs blaring.
I could mention stuff I didn’t like, but that would only show that we have different tastes in music. It’d be kinda pointless telling you the details on my different tastes since it’d only be asking for you to “adjust” your taste in music, which isn’t want I want to do.

[Alter-Fox]

Thanks Issac.

@Valin I think it was only Empty Track that was directly inspired from a Descent song. The other songs do have a lot of the same influences that Descent seemed to have, but it's different, in a nitpicky sort of way.