Underphil - Ocean Loader 5 (Dunn Rockin')

Hey, my first review! I spent quite a bit of time on thinking of a framework that hopefully helps remixers to understand how I vote, and helps myself to keep objective in the future -

Originality (30% weight, part of artistic skill): How fresh and creative is the remix?

I like the Iron Maiden style and I am not aware of other remixes that would have done that before, although it does not seem a very unexpected interpretation. The bass guitar and china/doublebass interludes keep the track interesting, although some more changes in instrumentation would have improved that even further. The remix is not really adding new surprising elements, which in my mind is required for a top score here (although it might reduce the embracement then 😊) 3/5 -

Embracement (30% weight, nostalgia): How well does the remix represent the original?

The original is immediately recognisable. The kind of hypnotic/repetitive feeling of the original is well preserved. Nice, I could hardly imagine how to improve that! 5/5 -

Arrangement (14% weight, part of artistic skill): How fitting and elaborate is the choice of instruments for the chosen style?

This is a bit of an easy win here, as rock music rarely profits from elaborate arrangements. The choice of sounds is good. I will nevertheless reduce the score by one, as some more sounds would have made the track a tad more interesting (as mentioned under originality). 4/5 -

Performance (14% weight, part of artistic skill): How well are the instruments played? How good is the timing, tuning, groove etc.?

That is bit of a difficult win here 😉, as rock music really depends on tight guitar playing. Not that the guitars are not well played, but compared to commercial productions there is quite some gap here. The drums seem to be programmed (I guess), and sound a bit uninteresting to me (coming from a drumming background). Tuning is fine. 3/5 -

Mix (9% weight, part of technique): Is the volume balanced well between the instruments? Are EQ, compression and effects applied appropriately?

Contrary to LaLa, I think the balance of the instruments is perfectly fine. EQ seems fine overall and effects are chosen well and do not overwhelm the sound. Again, the drums could need some more care. Still, a really nice mix! 4/5 -

Mastering (3% weight, part of technique): Does it sound well-rounded and professional overall? Are master bus processing and the overall spectral balance ok?

Overall spectral balance is ok, I guess a bit more shine could help. Fatness, argh that’s a hard one. The loudness war is over, nevertheless the track might profit from some more fatness. It’s good, but not commercially good, so I give it a 4/5 -

Overall: 3.86