1. Pearly Gates
   hornelectric
2. knock twice
   coolgreenapple
3. nah but seriously what happens
   coloradoweeks

This one could so easily have gone any way. Excellent entries. Hornelectric's smooth, nuanced delivery won the day, while the vocal treatments of coolgreenapple and coloradoweeks assured them places on the podium. Coloradoweeks would have edged coolgreenapple except for the abrupt ending.

1. nah but seriously what happens
   coloradoweeks
2. Fall from Grace
   DDRKirby(ISQ)
3. HG
   InvisibleObserver

dirtbag dan - HEAVY kick, nice groove

high above - awesome tones

wassup thunder - loved the organ intro into the spooky beat. felt like a bowser castle level. glitchy percussion was super cool.

koekepan - gorgeous blend of pads and short release boops in the intro.

DDRKirby - so lush, love the kalimba-type sound and the simple, tasteful lead. the arps into the delay and noise sweeps cultivate an incredible vibe.

A2Z - beautiful intro, could listen to that loop for hours. the simple melody somehow makes me feel nostalgic

hornelectric - super cool percussion, EWI is killin, very expressive. such a vibe!

Meistr - KILLER drop, loved the slowdown into the wubs

Colorado weeks - all killer no filler, chord progression is super cool, vocal melody is perfect and plays to the chords. the CHORUS is a hit. lyrically and melodically great.

Dex - love the lead guitar melodies mixed with the piano, really pretty stuff

obscene - very spacious and tasteful. fabulous sound design. cool violin sounds

cryref - stardew valley gone softprog

invisibleoserver - beautiful synths filling out a well balanced mix with a subtle but powerful groove underneath.

Arcana - really cool synths, super intense chord progression and bassline. a certified head bopper!

darkmystery - simple, beautiful, could listen to this for hours

1. knock twice
   coolgreenapple
2. nah but seriously what happens
   coloradoweeks
3. Ave Emporium, Mechanicus Glorium
   Wassup Thunder

coolgreenapple for just the clarity of everything in the song. Clear drums, really nice guitar work, it sounded coherent and like a vision was realized. really cool vocal sound overall

cw for the vocal work, the nice backing instrumentation

Wassup for just the cool intensity from the organ to the ending

Others that were in the top consideration:

ddrkirby

hornelectric

Meistr

InvisibleObserver

Dex

1. knock twice
   coolgreenapple
2. Pearly Gates
   hornelectric
3. Dirtbag Dan goes to heaven and dies
   relaxd

🌈 We're all children of the sun. 🌤️🙌

1. White Empty Hall
   Arcana
2. Together with the angels
   DarkMystery727
3. Castle in the sky
   Dex

My voting logic is inscrutable!!!

1. nah but seriously what happens
   coloradoweeks
2. knock twice
   coolgreenapple
3. White Empty Hall
   Arcana

1. nah but seriously what happens
   coloradoweeks
2. No Angels to Welcome
   obScene
3. In the wind
   Meistr

I'm not good at giving feedback, I decided to put 2 things I liked about each one

relaxd - Dirtbag Dan goes to heaven and dies

+ nice drum sounds

+ funky bass sounds nice

overall: +

Darkshadow - High Above

+ sounds like a phone call

+ interesting idea

overall: +

Wassup Thunder - Ave Emporium, Mechanicus Glorium

+ buzzing synth

+ drums

overall: ++

Koekepan - This Place is not Real

+ sound design

+ atmosphere

overall: ++

coolgreenapple - knock twice

+ chill chord progression

+ nice vocals

overall: ++

DDRKirby(ISQ) - Fall from Grace

+ that signature flute

+ sound design, bell

overall: 6

A2Z - Heaven's Wings

+ piano ostinato, drums give an |||||||| feel if you know what i mean

+ effects, sound design

overall: ++

hornelectric - Pearly Gates

+ sound design

+ percussion

overall: ++

Meistr - In the wind

+ cutting/arrangement of drums

+ progression, that drop

overall: 3

coloradoweeks - nah but seriously what happens

+ vocals sound so good

+ lyrics are well-written

overall: 1

Dex - Castle in the sky

+ mood, synths and guitar

+ nice composition, I like the break

overall: 4

obScene - No Angels to Welcome

+ gentle organic instrumentation

+ forest-like mood

overall: 2

cryref22 - 11 pillars

+ time signature, rhythm

+ sound design

overall: ++

InvisibleObserver - HG

+ soft reversed pads

+ nice drums

overall: +

Arcana - White Empty Hall

+ Gallop and saw

+ High energy synths

overall: 5

DarkMystery727 - Together with the angels

+ calming melody, arrangement

+ instrument choice works well

overall: ++

1. Castle in the sky
   Dex
2. HG
   InvisibleObserver
3. Pearly Gates
   hornelectric

1. 11 pillars
   cryref22
2. nah but seriously what happens
   coloradoweeks
3. Heaven's Wings
   A2Z

I was away for a week, so sadly i couldn't get to partake in this, but i did manage to set a timer for 1 hour and 30 minutes and make a track based off the theme, so nothing is entirely lost. Despite all of this, i can still vote, and i did just that. Because i was away i ended up leaving it a little too late, but that's ok, as long as i voted. Onto the entries!

Relax.D - Cool beat, there is a lot of stereo panning here, it's quite wide. The beat is extremely punchy too, so much so it's completely pushing the other instruments down quite a bit, it can be a bit too much. The synths are very cool though, it has a sort of electro vibe thing going on, but with a more brooding attitude, it's quite interesting. It's also more on the shorter side, but the idea is extremely cool, i like the darkness it has. If the compression wasn't too much, this could be awesome, but as it stands, it's a good job from me, sorry.

DarkShadow - There is a lot of high pitched synth work in this, it's border on shrill not gonna lie. However i do dig the sort of start and stop motion of this, there's like a 3 second hold before we loop the pattern, it's interesting. The whole track just sound like telephone dial tones made into melodies, it's actually pretty cool, i just wish it wasn't so shrill and distorted in the mix, because sadly it was too loud for me. Still though it was a lot of fun, good job!

Wassup Thunder - Wassup is going the organ route this week, which you don't really see, as you tend to go the Eurobeat route. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of techno styled elements here, from the drums to the driving synths, but the organ makes it closer to baroque music, with the dark atmosphere it's great. Some notes were definately spicy, bordering on dissonant, however it didn't really ruin the track for me, and for this dark atmosphere it really adds something. Mix is also very solid too, so many great changes for it's runtime. Maybe too dark for the theme personally, however that's only a minor one. Track it just great, nothing else to say, well done!

Koekepan - Interesting arps, it sort of simulates a marimba but in a synthetic way, than a real instrument way. The pads are the classic Koekepan sound, very textural, some really nice ambience for this, it works with the theme exceptionally well. There isn't a lot of big changes, but the chord changes that do happens are lovely, it's got a lot of melody ideas here, especially for 2:22, i feel like every second there is a new chord happening, and yet it's not abrupt of random, it's just a really peaceful tune, with some lovely synth sounds. Not much else to say it was awesome, i could vote for this one, even though i only have 3 to choose from, awesome work!

Coolgreenapple - Cool reverb here, the guitar sounds very indie rock, i feel like i should be relaxing right now. The vocals are pretty awesome too, although the reverb does make it a little bit hard to decipher, but that's a minor one. The chords are beautiful too, it's a lovely well made rock song, there's nothing else to really say here it was just great, i could vote for this one, awesome work!

DDRKirby(ISQ) - Thick chords, also quite textural. The note choices make it kind of unique, it's hard to tell the exact chords used, but there's some notes that really make it spicy here i love it. The mix is really great too, you also went for some thick reverb, but less in a trippy way, and in a more of an atmospheric way. I love the woodwind melody as usal, and the arrangement is extremely top notch too, your journey's are just so well mixed and arranged, not once do i feel it's boring or it over stays it's welcome, it's just beautiful. It's voting worthy, even if i can only pick 3. Awesome work!

A2Z - Sick arps, it kind of follows from the last track, as they both share the same key. I wasn't expecting a fast beat for this, it's got that synthpop feel, but the vibe almost felt slower, like it was setting me up for a slow downtempo beat, however a fast beat also works exceptionally well here, so no complaints at all. The chords are quite positive and uplifting, it really makes me feel mellow. Whole thing is just really nice, and the arrangement is very solid. It was so good i decided to place it third, amazing work!

Hornelectric - Welcome new person, i don't think i've heard your music yet, and so far from listening, it's exceptionally granular sounding. This has a lot of wonderful ambience, it's totally theme fitting. The vibe is also fitting for some kind of jungle, i just get that vibe. The melody is quite dynamic in this, and is sort of the main proponent of the melody ideas here, the rest is mostly soundscapes and one chord vamps. It's actually quite cool, i think there is a lot here to give you this one, it's super interesting. Well done!

Meistr - Quite the short one, but that's ok. Chords are nice, has a bit of neon feel in the synth work. The DnB parts are very nice, the mix is really nice, although i did notice when the buildup was happening the mix suddenly got louder than normal, and it was more of a sudden loudness than anything. It didn't make the track bad, it just suprised me really. The drop makes up for it though, it's exceptional. Not DnB though, more like Electro? It's hard to tell what it was, but it was really good. It's very short, so a few repeats were needed to process it, but as it stands, i loved it a lot, well done!

Coloradoweeks - Colorado returns, with some very jazzy chords. The singing is also pretty awesome too, although it's a tiny bit quiet the vocals, in regards to the mix, however i think of this as me nitpicking, it's still really great, some of the chord choices are amazing. I absolutely love the jazzy and spicy harmony here, the drums are funky as hell, and the strings make it more natural sounding, but not too natural. It's just some killer harmonies and melodies here. Ending was super abrupt, it stops mid chord sequence lol. Either way i absolutely loved it. It was so good i placed it 2nd, incredible work!

Dex - Now this is now the dex i'm familiar with. I mean it does has the classic Dex drum sounds, and guitar tones, but the synths are more atmospheric than expected, and the rhythms belong to someone else entirely, yet it's also got that Dex touch. The melodies are really nice, the guitar tone is really nice in this, i feel partly like relaxing, but also vibing, the arrangement and melody ideas are just lovely. Nothing bad to say about this, it's very strong stuff, i could vote for this, awesome work!

obScene - Cool mallet sounds, no idea what instrument it is, but it sounds closer to a wooden xylophone sound, than a marimba. The strings are very eerie, i don't know if you are trying to make happy music or dark music, as the vibe is mostly a mix of calm sounds, and strange melodies. Especially in the chord progression, when you introduce that F# note. The strings are quite cute, but also dark, it's hard to tell. It is a short one, i felt like the main chord progression wasn't as developed because it ends so soon, but despite that, i still felt captivated enough for me to give you this one, it was really cool, well done!

Cryef22 - Could that waveform be any quieter haha. That is a nice melody, played into the distance, i feel like i'm in a forest but far away. At first i thought a solo melody was a bit brave, as that's very little music, but when the music box sounds come in, it turns from hmm how nice, to oh wow this is pretty. This is absolutely beautiful, it's very emotive and theme fitting, i love how it developes in the end, the whole piece has quite a cool time signature change that you wouldn't catch if you didn't listen hard enough. It really developes towards the middle, it's actually beautiful. Lovely stuff, in fact i thought it was so beautiful i ended up placing this on the top spot, it was so good, incredible work!

InvisibleObserver - Man you guys are really bringing out the granular pads this week, this is quite expansive. I love the drums, it really adds a nice funky swing to the whole thing, especially for a pad sound, that screams ambient music, yet this is very funky but partially chill at the same time. The chords are quite soothing, and the drums are quite swung, making for a nice groovy listen. I do think the overal track, feels a tad bit too compressed, borderline in your face, however that is a small one. I relistened a couple of times, and i felt like giving you this one, it's got a lot of great moments, well done!

Arcana - Digging the bassline, it reminds me a lot of VGM rock somehow, even if the track presented here is EDM. Great vocal melody, it's nice and clear but not too loud. The trance synths are classic Arcana, i don't know a single track without them from you lol. The vocal effects are very cool, but it's designed in such a way it really makes it hard for me to tell what you are singing. The "drop part" if you were to call it that, does bring in a more stable voice, so i sort of made out what was been sung here. The overal mix is great, a bit more intense than the standard Arcana track, however thankfully not too loud. I listened to it a couple of times, and i couldn't find anything bad here, so i will give you this. Well done!

DarkMystery727 - Another quiet one, but also with cute melodies, that sort of give me faint Animal Crossing vibes, it's quite peaceful with some really cool airy synths. There is no trace of bassline to be found, it's all about the airiness with this one. The melodies are nice, but the track is a little on the shorter side, so a few repeats were needed. The lack of the bassline normally might make this a bit too...open, however i think it works to the advantage here. I found there was a lot more to like than dislike in this one, well done!

Top 3 - Cryef22, Coloradoweeks, A2Z.

These entries also deserve to be on the list:

Koekepan

Coolgreenapple

DDRKirby(ISQ)

Dex

Awesome - Wassup Thunder, Koekepan, Coolgreenapple, DDRKirby(ISQ), A2Z, Hornelectric, Meistr, Coloradoweeks, Dex, obScene, Cryef22, InvisibleObserver, Arcana, DarkMystery727

Needs Work - Relax.D, DarkShadow.