hoping you'll enjoy my praise more than you did my criticism. This song grabbed me right from the start, that harmonised guitar riff makes such a great intro and this is so energetic and immediate. The lyric is a clever take on the title and challenge, and "the last step is also the first" makes a really memorable hook. The ascending synth riff does feel a little repetitive after a bunch of listens, I wonder if varying the sound a little from section to section would make this even better. But it's already really excellent.

killer opening, great production, cool synths. Maybe wanted vocals to pop a bit more or just be a touch louder, but I trend towards loud vocals

This grabs your attention right away with that big harmonized guitar intro and those high-energy synths, and the chorus feels nostalgic and full of wild yearning, and I like the “blood manifesto and dogeared mind” line in particular. I really like the ascending guitar against the separately ascending synth arpeggios around 01:12.

I like the instruments on this song, but the very fuzzy vocals are a bit off for me. In general, I think they're pretty good, but they highlight any issues a note might have because they get exaggerated. Without the fuzz/distortion, I doubt I could pick out any quality issues, but with it, I hear every bend in the notes, and it makes me think about them, which isn't what you want. I don't have any advice on how to make it better, I think it's just a thing to be aware of when using so much of this distortion.

I love the image of a dog eared mind. The weaving upward guitar riff is my favorite part of this song. It’s really lovely to listening to. Actually, all the sounds you use are an aural delight, like the backwards sounds you throw in. You left dead air on the back end though! 🙁