Jabun's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Inktober #31 - Project Halloween]

Really nice chill and reflective vibes peeps! The semi-sung vocals were a nice touch which really went well with the instrumental. Fun times and great work!

Cyberdevil responds:

How do I move from semi-sung to actual singing hmm, I wonder where the distinction lies. :P Thank you, and for tuning in and reviewing all these days too! Happy Hallows!

[Inktober #30 - Grip]

Nice work all around peeps! Hard hitting and head bopping beats, varied and nicely phased vocal delivery (great balance of steady pace + fast fills and ornaments, and even some triplet flows!) This ones another great highlight of this year! CD and Larry have been a dream team for 2024! 6 Stars!

Cyberdevil responds:

Thank you man, happy how this one turned out too, delivery pretty much how I wanted it to be this time around. :) Cheers, to good peers, and grand collabos all these years!

[Inktober #29 - Keep Going]

I was wondering when @JamesHeart was going to show up :D Always a great time hearing him on the beat too! I guess we're usually our own harshest critics, but I really liked this one and the vocals sounded great to me. Passionate! Nicely done peeps!

Cyberdevil responds:

Aye, it's not a complete Inktober without a @JamesHeart feature! :D Though I should've given a heads up in advance probably, hope he comes online soon to the project invite...

Mmm I know I could've done better, the little stumbles on certain words bother me most, and the emphasis/annunciation doesn't sync to the beat occasionally, but I'm glad I might be the only one bothered by such details here! XD It's nice that each day is it's own limitation at least, so despite occasional errors you just have to put it out and move on regardless, hope to do a new take on this one in particular somewhere down the line, I really liked the energy overall...

Thanks again Nick; thanks for sticking with these all throughout the month thus far too!

[Inktober #28 - Standing Desk]

Pure performance poetry, CD! Fantastic stuff :) I still need to try one of those standing desks...

Cyberdevil responds:

Appreciate it JB! Oh the standing desks are great, for getting some passive exercise at least, I wonder if chairs aren't actually better for back and posture otherwise... probably good to vary.

We have standing desks at the office anyhow, so I stand as much as I can when there.

[Inktober #27 - Halloween's Coming...]

Different flow style to your usual delivery, CD, and I'm loving it! Can't help but bop my head and variety is the spice of life as they say! And a great spooky instrumental from Aalasteir too! Very nicely done peeps!

Aalasteir responds:

Thank you so much, Jabun!

[Inktober #26 - B-35 Bomber]

Man you went HARD lyrically on this one! Really embraced the dark beat. Uncomfortable but thought provoking stuff, like a protest chant against the march of the beating drums! Great to be a part of your Inktober jams for another year! It's funny, I remember another entry from the 2020(?) mixtape with the spoken words "We're only human" too. It's too true! That b35 link from the bomber to the pattern number I composed this on was a great and unexpected reference too :) Not sure if the outro lyrics quiiiite reflect the E for everyone rating now that I think about it, but oh well XD Same time next year I hope! Maybe a 3rd year of EM-1 beats to make it a trio? We'll see and thanks again for having me on the beats!

Cyberdevil responds:

Thanks again Nick! Much obliged, and very happy you had time to join in this year too! Ahh no matter how new you attempt to keep things it seems you do end up re-using or resorting to similar sayings and phrases. XD We're only human's one of the one's I've picked up huh, though so true indeed. And yet the notion of humanity still seems to invoke a sense of superiority for some. Are we only superiors. Aren't we just another species after all - I ought find a new mantra to mirror our frailty and futility/beckon to reason and humility!

Didn't actually know about the B-35 bomber before this btw, did some Googling. ;) It worked so well! With theme and tone and everything.

Oh right I should probably change that rating. XD Same time next year for sure, hoping and looking forward to it! All the best Nick and THANK YOU for this one!

[Inktober #25 - A Breath Of Day]

Dang! I'm sure you've mentioned those cinema marathons before but dang that's a lot of screen time (of the unusual variety XD)! Great flows with this acapella and the one breath take was an impressive feat! Like CRAZY breath control! I think the allowing of breaths does allow for more dynamics in the performance but as an exercise in itself dang! Nicely done CD :D

Cyberdevil responds:

Hehe it is yeah, they were back to back so barely a break between them, but time doth fly with good movies, fortunately they were all good... gotta make the most of the times I happen to be in the city; save on commuter costs for these things. XD

The one-breath take definitely doesn't sound great but I am pretty proud of it indeed! Did one with outro included too but it just... wasn't good enough, seemed reasonable to just cut that part out. With real breath training I'm curious if I'd manage to actually do this in one take and have it sound good too, it seems possible, I'm not in the best shape yet. Plus I started noticing with this one you can kind of 'hum' consonants/parts of words without letting any air out at all, if you want to go long it's probably possible to write with that in mind too, and use word structure and annunciation that lets you minimize air time. Intriguing how much more there is to sound than air pressure...

Thank you! :)

[Inktober #24 - Net & Yahoo]

Another great acapella without a beat to hide behind. Reminds me of one of the previous Inktober years again :) There's a specific inflection you use which reminds me of those older ones :) *high high low, high high low* Heavy lyrics this time though. Reflective Just a week left to go!

Cyberdevil responds:

Mhm! I ought listen back sometime and study my formula a bit, bound to be repeating a fair few patterns I'm not noticing, I do notice sometimes that I try something I've never tried before; that seems to boost inspiration a bit more than usual... suppose there are similar patterns to most of these though, in which order I rhyme words, in how I accentuate and structure, ought intentionally try to get away from writing all verses in quatrains too as to mix up structure further...

Thanks again Nick! Interesting observation too.

[Inktober #23 - The Butter Cutter]

An unexpected vocal cameo indeed! I think this is the first time I've heard FoD's voice :D The way everything fell together with this one was impeccable XD I must ask is there a story behind the butter cutter lyric? Great stuff peeps!

Cyberdevil responds:

Vocal F-o-D appearances do seem a rare honor, was fun to get one for this. :) First time I heard him might have been on the recent Goon Squad reunion track, worth a listen if you've missed it: https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/1352064

Actually that probably isn't the first... first published cameo, maybe...

Welll the story here maybe started with a certain review response here: https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/1369431

I asked if he might provide a vocal sample of said response at precise beat-related BPM, he provided, I stuck with the theme, and here we are now. :D Glad you enjoyed the results!

[Inktober #22 - Break Beat]

Well definitely doesn't SOUND like the inspiration's waning XD Agreed with FoDs sentiments on the vocal/instrumental level, but sounding kickass nonethless! Maybe not the instrumentation, but the tonality gives me Bizkit vibes in a great way :) Nicely done both of yous!

Cyberdevil responds:

Well it WAS waning, I promise! XD Ey always a good thing if you're giving off LB vibes, glad to hear it! Thank you!