So, the opening lyric starts things off very badly for my taste. I tend to not be a fan of self-referential lyrics, especially when you're using it as the opening line. (Max opened his "The Handbook" in a similar fashion and that song remains one of my least favorite things I have ever heard from him.) Lead vocal is often flat, and you especially sound like you are struggling/straining as the song progresses into those higher notes where Max sounds more comfortable. Mix sounds reasonably good, and the structure is good. Still, I wanted to skip this on repeat listens. I understand what you're doing in the chorus by having "up" and "down" at the same time in the chorus, but it makes things sound muddled, and I don't think it was a good call to include that as something that repeats.

LYRICS: [OKAY] 1 point
STRUCTURE: [GOOD] 2 points
PERFORMANCE: [OKAY] 1 point
CONCEPT/CHALLENGE: [OKAY] 1 point
DYNAMICS/MIX: [GOOD] 2 points
SCORE: 7 out of 10

I'm hoping you subscribe to the theory that it's better to inspire an intense reaction than to leave your listener feeling nothing at all, because I hate this song with a fiery passion. I'm slightly turned off by the meta opening lines, the awkward interplay between the two vocals loses me further, and the last minute or so where you're basically just screaming at each other is... it's just the precise opposite of everything I love about music. This song needs some build, but Max in particular starts the song at almost full intensity which leaves it with nowhere to go but into full-on nightmare territory. I'm not sure whether the vocal cutting off at the end is a mistake or an intentional decision but it feels like the final "will this do?" slap in the face at the end of my least favourite song of the competition so far.

Shadows:

When the harmonies work, they sound epic. There are too many points where the vocal harmonies don’t quite work. The guitar solo is a bit too much on the sloppy side, but also consider a more epic tone to match the epicness of the song. I really have a hard time listening to the vocals be mixed up this high against the rest of the track. While I appreciate you pushing yourself to the edge of your vocal range, it just doesn’t sound that great when you do it, intonation of course, but I just mean tonally.