Novel Territories: The pizzicato strings under the legato woodwinds sets the stage for a magical journey as I often associate this instrumentation with forest or woodsy themes. I like how you introduce the themes in the piano first and then build the orchestration around it afterward.
Show of Strength: This piece really is quite impressive with a powerful melody, but even more awe-inspiring to me is the string ostinatos and runs in the background creating the accompaniment. This is a very memorable track - well done.
The Forest’s Denizens: I appreciate the use of lots of space between instruments in this piece which feels like the space between trees in a forest. Even a simple violin solo over bouncing pizzicato cello creates a full scene without feeling like it’s missing anything.
Our Parasitic History: This is an interesting militaristic track that adds so much to the story by providing backstory. I think the contrast of downbeat rhythms compared to some of the more syncopated themes in the other tracks help create the separation in chronology of this track from the others. I think it is really cool that you keep similar instrumentation, but focus on certain instruments differently to boost that contrast.
MANTIS: This piece flows very nicely from the preceding track and creates that classic orchestral urgency sound to really characterize a climactic encounter well. I like that you continue to stay consistent with emphasized use of woodwinds and strings, but also the added brass layer helps this feel epic (as it should). Impressive movie-score quality!
Tragic Victory: This is an interesting story element to color the victory as tragic (which is absolutely portrayed in the music well). I feel like the story leaves me with more questions than when I started listening and makes me want to hear more! In any case, this was a really well-made soundtrack that sounds like it should be featured in a real movie or game. Very nice work and thank you for sharing!