0) ooo regal and maybe a little hint of nefariousness or suspicion with the timing gradients (or maybe it was just in free time and I'm reading too far into it). I think that captures impressions from the artwork nicely!
1) what a pleasant blend of classical riffing and harpsichord with the 80s pad-y synth sound. Nicely evocative of like 80s/90s video game "rise for the royal court" kinda scenes
2) the slides, the soft clippiness. The classical harmonies feel like they start to borrow a little more from rockier genres here which is a nice distinction for battling presumably the first distinct foe
3) aww yeah it definitely starts to feel like Shadow Universe Elton John is puppeteering the villains we're battling which I mean as a compliment. I like how big it feels when the crashes start going crazy (maybe wish they took up more of the volume budget). I also love how relentless the progressions felt going into the latter half
4) from the first bar I could already tell I was in for some intrigue and fun
5) oh even more of a big initial impression than track 4. The formant filter synth and the traditional piano sound blend together scary well. Also a ton of nice building and falling feelings evoked. "Climbing" definitely fits but this could be an entire narrative by itself. I particularly love the one motif with the little run down the scale (at, e.g., 3:00). Favorite track
6) I like the sense of triumph coming in after the trials of the last tracks
7) Huh with the most traditional sounds at the forefront for the "going home" finale, I wonder if the synth elements were meant to represent a corrupting influence? I'll have to go back and click around to see how they line up with the other feelings
overall thoughts: generally very compelling progressions and fun melodies and dynamic compositions and rad synths/sounds