Shiverwar's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Xirvus (The Defender)]

The main thing that sucked me in was at the very beginning: the vocal ensemble. That was executed very well, and the rest of the song fell into place right after. A calm knight, pushed to his breaking point, then becomes a monster on the battlefield. Even a holy knight has only so much patience, after all! That being said, some parts of this song did kind of turn me off, such as some of the... I guess mangled vocals that sounded like a monster growling, but that's only a very minor thing. Overall, this song is still pretty freakin' sweet!

DanJohansen responds:

Yeah vocals and ways to go about vocals does not favor everyone, people's taste in vocalists vary incredibly, glad you dug the rest of the tune though man!

[New Millennium]

The beat is simple, and the instruments are surprisingly not much more complex. It's easy to get sucked into, and as someone who is more keen on rock and metal than electronic, I gotta say this makes me feel like I'm in a video game myself! Though, for some reason, parts of it made me think of Mega Man and others made me think of other games I can't quite put my finger on at this moment. All I gotta say now is, you're damn good, man!

DanJohansen responds:

It was def inspired by that era of video games when I made it, 8/16 bit era but with modernized samples. :D I didn't draw direct inspirations from one game in particular but I can't deny Mega Man inspires me big time!

[Sailing the Skies]

THIS was unexpected! I usually know you for your metal, but it seems you can do classical just as well, too! As one of my own fans and friends said to me, you're gonna give me the musical equivalent of breast envy. Seriously, dude, I could even fall asleep to this. It's quite relaxing!

DanJohansen responds:

I've actually made a ton of symphonic tracks like this in the past :D I just finished composing 10 symphonic tracks for an Indie game as well, glad you enjoy this style as well! Got one epic boss battle track with choir chants and stuff for the game too.

[Neo-Bushido]

Two words, Dan, to describe this song.

Fuck. Yes.

DanJohansen responds:

Man that makes me happy, I put a lot of work into this track, and got some mixed response from people, some say it's just riff after riff with no true arrangement but I disagree and stand by it, this is one of my favorite tracks I composed personally, glad you enjoy it bro!

[LV 99 MP 999 HP 9999]

For some reason, I got a very subtle Motoi Sakuraba vibe from this song. Some elements from it sound a lot like his work, and that, if you ask me, is awesome. I'm a huge fan of Motoi Sakuraba, and you somehow made this song sound like something he would have done. You just keep continuing to impress me, Dan!

DanJohansen responds:

I didn't intend for it to go that way XD I thought it was more inspired by JDK Sound team myself, but as a huge fan of Motoi's work on Tales of Symphonia, Abyss, Valkyrie Profile etc I can't deny that he inspires me a lot too, he makes fantasy RPG's truly come to life with his rock tracks!

[Chaos Realm]

Wow. Dan, Khairul, and Metaljonus combining together to make a fucking epic track?! If my right ear wasn't so blocked up with now, I'd say this was a complete eargasm! ...Who am I kidding, it still is. Real nice work here, guys! You guys kick so much ass!

DanJohansen responds:

Khairul and Metaljonus kick so much ass! Two of the most awesome shredders I know of :D
*throws a Q-tip your way* Now unblock that ear! :D Thanks man!

[Distortions Of Reality]

You and Dan are a goldmine of tracks that I can use for my Xenoverse 2 online fights! Seriously, I've been on the search for badass tracks to use, and I think I can confidently say that I'll be returning often to you guys, because one, I've heard your work years ago, Bad-Man, and your work has improved SIGNIFICANTLY since then (not to say back then was bad, it certainly wasn't), and two, these songs have just the right tone and energy that I need! Hope you don't mind me using it and other tracks!

Before you ask, yes, I do provide links in the descriptions of my videos to the appropriate pages. :D

Bad-Man-Incorporated responds:

awesome to hear you like it! Definitely more to come! Also PM me, cause i'm more than happy to do custom stuff. :)

[Burning Sun Bleeding Moon]

Yet another home run from you, Dan! Love the way you work with your music! I think I have yet another track to add to my Xenoverse 2 videos! :D You're fine with that, right?

DanJohansen responds:

Thanks man! Glad you dig it :D I got no problem with you unleashing godly powers and smashing faces in to my music, in fact, I'd love to see a video of it haha, you can record game footage and add the music on top, would be fun as fuck to see haha.

[Edge of the Sword]

Melodic metal... I'd almost forgotten it exists.

I'm still only part-way through the song, and already I'm wholly impressed. This is definitely fitting for the dawn of a new war, with one lone warrior standing proud as he makes his way into the battle of a lifetime. I would love to use this song at some point for my videos on YouTube. Would that be at all possible?

DanJohansen responds:

Glad you enjoyed it that much! Thanks a ton, you can use the track for your youtube vids if you like, just link to the track and it's all good, have fun!

[The Battle for Everyone's Souls]

I do like how faithful this is to the original theme. As far as a composition, it's done rather well. My only gripe about it is the way the instruments themselves sound, though, that could be just my personal bias. It's a very minor gripe, though. As far as it as a whole, this is done very well. Kudos, my fellow composer. :D

KaiserBeats responds:

Indeed, Fellow Composer! :D