At the Heart of Winter

[tgs]

Maybe a vague question, or maybe not a question at all, just asking for some ideas.

I think the guitar sound on this Immortal album is pretty cool and I'm trying to achieve something similar in a mix I'm currently working on. The guitars are recorded with a Dual Rectifier and I can really hear the similarity in tone.

There are a couple of things I haven't quite gotten yet though, so I wanted to see if anyone has any tips.

First, I've noticed that the guitars have quite a lot of midrange going on, especially around 1.5-2k. The problem is that it gets a bit honky when I start boosting here. How do I balance it up to match it better?

Second, my guitars are a bit too clean. On the Immortal album, there seems to be something almost crackling going on. I think you'll pick it up if you listen to it. Any ideas on how to achieve that?

 

[reneisgod]

For further reference you may want to check out more albums done by Peter Tagtgren (abyss studio) around the same period.
Or search youtube for abyss studio footage or diary videos.

Alot of albums done by Tagtgren tend to have the same production values,
im sure one of the Hypocrisy albums has a near spot on sound to heart of winter. Spiritual black dimensions isn’t far off on that tone either.

tbh it’s definitely not a tone I dig but it does work for Immortal really well. The recordings coming out of abyss studio since then have vastly improved.

''there seems to be something almost crackling going on''

dude i think this is actually clipping due to poor mastering, it wouldnt be the 1st thing put out from Peter that was shocking for that..... just take a listen to Hypocrisy Virus, saying that im not sure Peter actually does the mastering?

 

[Fragle]

"also check out youtube there some abyss studio diary type videos on there, that might be a good place to start for an insight."

never found one. youtube (or the internet in general) seems to be ignorant of the abyss studios.
a shame, i kinda like his sound. it's unique. although his stuff is often clipping to the extremes.

anyways, tagtgren seems to love the rectifier and the sansamp psa1 for his rhythm tones.
also, very often a large part of the sound comes from the thunderous bass. that's definitely sansamp-flavor right there. hypo virus or immortal sons of norther darkness are good examples of that. solo'd the guitars are definitely on the thin side, but the bass is HUGE.

 

[DanLights]

yeah huge Bass, At the Heart of Winter has some really deep bass going on in the pits of Blashyrk, Sons of Northern Darkness (IMO their best) also has that sansamp feel, I love the production on that album. Winter is definitely more raw and messy, although it´s still awesome for Immortal