AIM 2023 Judge Review
I love hearing the variety of metal tracks this year and I'm totally here for this introspective take on a thunderstorm. It seems like there was a lot of thought put into how these sections play out and I think everything really comes together to portray this passing of the storm. You get a lot of mileage out of this guitar-heavy piece - I feel like a lot of interesting ideas were being explored in the melody and using the guitar's growling, distorted sound is a great choice for a wailing thunderstorm. I especially like the section at 2:55 where the repeating notes go through phasing changes, which is a nice preceding section to the introduction of the piano.
The only issues that come to mind here have to do with the impact of the notes and the mixing of the drums. I feel like this track does not hit as hard as the composition makes it seem like and I believe a big part of it is that the drums. I think they definitely could have been louder, particularly the bass drum and snare, which feel present but not prominent. The other aspect is that in the beginning metal section from 1:11 to 2:55, I feel like those repeating notes could be a little more snappier (like the ones around the 1:44 mark for instance). It might be the background accompaniment or the notes being held a little too long, but I feel like the track loses a lot of energy from not having those notes cutting clean as they repeat and thus there's not a lot of impact when the repeating notes play.
Overall, I think you have the narrative structure down well in terms of portraying the storm. I really enjoyed the melodic starting section, particularly the little rising of that guitar note at 0:48-0:49 leading up to the start of the first harder-hitting section. I found it pretty intriguing how you describe this passing of the storm like a hill to climb, which to me was strange given how the art is showing what appears to be relatively flat land. I get the title of the collection and the climbing of the metaphorical hill as the overcoming of obstacles or challenges in life. It just seemed weird given that braving a storm also is a similar metaphor to what you're describing and would have been more appropriate to this concept and the art. Even the track seems to conclude a little similarly to how it started, with the ambience and the solemn melodic guitar. In the end, I still think this track does a good job at reflecting the art in motion and it still works in conjunction with its inspiration.