There's a lot of unique style in this submission, both musically and otherwise. The slow building bass in the first track fits the mood perfectly. I think you strike a good balance in general between making things sound off and making them listenable - it can be really hard to walk that line at times. 

The only instrument that felt a bit too off for my ears was the lead on the second track; I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but something on the high end feels just a tiiiiiiiiny bit too harsh. It's not unlistenable still by any means, but that's the only point in your submission that I felt that you went just the slightest  bit too far with the sound design. It sounds like you used the same or a similar synth in track 3, but the only time it bothered me was at 1:02. I could just be tired and being a baby though, so feel free to ignore this completely

Speaking of the third track, I love that drum beat. I think this one and "THE_WALLS_BEYOND" are the two stand-out tracks from this submission, but the whole thing was quite enjoyable and a treat to experience. It was a nice change of pace from a lot of the other submissions that I've heard. Excellent work!

Superb soundtrack! Loved the compression you put on the synths!

Very enjoyable, cinematic feeling sound design on first track, the big bassy hits especially. The rest of the soundtrack could've had more of this soundtrack design stuff, honestly, it was effective. Really enjoyed the slightly off-kilter, but still melancholic melodies as well. The vibes on display on all the tracks are very much my kind of thing.

The intense beat on track 3 cuts through all the other kinda spooky, melancholic stuff in a cool way, very much enjoyed that. The last part of the track gets pretty epic and feels like escaping from something.

It all ends with a nice, creepy little thing as well, rounds it out well. Effective sounds on the instruments for sure.

If I was to critique much, I think it'd just be that I'm struggling a little to see how it fits with the theme, mostly because that's not really mentioned in the description. There wasn't much that felt very "summer" about it and it didn't really evoke the image for me. I also think telling a full, rounded musical story in such a short time is tough, but that does come across somewhat still.

Overall, I really liked it though. I'm a sucker for that kind of horror and it was generally evocative of that so, great job!

I liked the eerie vibe you made, loved the breakbeat at "DESCENDENSNDN". It's pretty short, but you still managed to leave an impression. One nitpick I have is it's "simplicity" which is the opposite of munou_'s opinion lol. The instruments sound too "stock" if you get what I mean?  There could have been like more "bass" at the last track for example or delay/reverb on some instruments, but it's just my opinion.

HOLEE WACAMOLEE, this is hands-down the best submission with "less is more" approach! This is my personal take, but I normally dislike when people make complex things because they want to flex their skills instead of being actually honest with what they want to express and this submission is the exact opposite of that which I deeply appreciate!

Lastly, I just want to drop this one quote that I always keep in my mind whenever I make art:
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

This is really quite a creative entry. I enjoyed the microtonality in particular.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who explored microtonality this jam.

Great work! :)

The creativity on this is something i really responded to as someone who tends to kind of score in the last quartile of a lot of jams while simultaneously getting like in the top 10% in creativity subscore, felt like i found a kindred spirit there.

Everything has a really distinct personality and i could feel the passion on each track.

Very, very impressed.

Gave you an itch follow, and reposted/liked all the tracks and integrated them into my matrix of soundtrack and ambient playlists on Soundcloud.  If you like the thing(s) on my page(s) consider doing similar actions.

Cheers!

--D

main website:

https://exedexes1.com/

I really like the take on the theme here, it makes so much sense for that picture to be the outskirts of some backrooms-type place and the level of mellow-yet-tense and breaking-down-from-wear ambiance throughout the whole album conveys this so well. I'd love to see this in a game, I can picture the CRT filter already haha

"More info on how it connects to the theme" I say to everyone. I just want more description of how the things you chose to do fit the theme. Any old reason will do, just so long as you tell it to me so that I can listen for it and understand the thought processes.

I liked the way you played with the sound design in the first song. I think that the other songs even had more room for sound design toying with the horror theme you went with. Have some glitchy drum sections in DESCENDESCENDESCEND to make it feel more dangerous and unsettling.

JEYYYYZUUUUS

That's all I have to say gosh this is insanely good. The only actual feedback I can make is not even worth it, since it's about some sharp highs kinda on the edge of hurting on my monitoring headphones, but since it's compressed on purpose that point would be stupid for me to make or even take away even a star. You get flawless scoring my boy xD

Wow! Exceptional sound design! It has just the right blend of breathy atmosphere textures and REST and SPACE

I really appreciate the detail putting into the small pitch bends/micro tones and speed to make this feel like it lives on a VHS tape.

Its really easy to make things feel 'Sour' when messing with microtones and you did an immaculate job on your selection and intentions.

I almost wish DECEND had harder jungle drums! it was a good piece.

My favorite piece has to be the walls beyond. I think you did great work here 

Whew boy, that title switch in the middle of the main theme was really great.  The songs really do a lot of heavy lifting for this game.  It really paints a picture, I'd play the heck out of it.  Great drum work and atmosphere, if I can feel tension and pressure, that only pushes me to keep going.  :)

Excellent use of textures to create those liminal vibes. ✨

Definitely felt the analog horror! The use of effects and the sound design in general were standout, and helped sell the feeling of an oppressively uncomfortable place perfectly! Also the used of leitmotifs and themes made everything very cohesive, which helped in selling the story you wanted!

I really liked all of them but I think I like "he_is_taken_forever_taken_is_he" the most, due to it giving me a sense of dread and hopelessness, in a great way! Also loved the first half of "DESCENDESCENDESCEND --- ESCAPESCAPESCAPE" (had to copy paste this one lol), the drums make me want to run from the threat but the melody is so alien that it makes me want to take a quick look back just to see what's chasing me!

Can easily see this in an actual game!

Great Job!

Great soundtrack, DESCENDESCENDESCEND --- ESCAPESCAPESCAPE was my favorite :)