HOLY SMOKES. This is INCREDIBLE. The composition, soundscapes, production quality, textures, storytelling, everything is incredibly done. I loved every second of it.
Reading through the description of your vision for each step also brought a new depth to the storytelling already present in the music.
Each track also flows effortlessly into the next, creating a very cohesive feel in the story.
My favorite track is Gaia, the textures and melodic content REALLY spoke to me.
The only negatives I could speak about any of it would be the drum and noise mix in Thunder - which may very well have been a stylistic type of choice that I don't resonate with as much. I also think the mix for the last track, Nkumo Atoll, could use aa bit of work as well. But those are slightly nitpicky in nature for the most part - overall the quality over the full album shows a distinct mastery of many aspects of music production as a whole, and I felt tugged along for the ride in a way lots of other submissions fall short on.
Fantastic work.
estes_