august burns red - messengers

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s34nsm411

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May 3, 2004
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holy shit!!!! this album sounds amazing, tue madsen did an awesome job. my only crit is that the overheads seem slightly too bright sounding, but it does add a cool vibe on the china hits

i got the interpunk release that comes with a dvd too, it has a pretty cool studio 'making of' video on it. does anyone know any other details about this recording? amps etc. on the dvd there was only one shot of amps and it was a stack of something like a framus, a vht, a 5150, and possibly a mesa?
 
They used to have a blog on their Myspace with lots of photos and a pretty detailed description of the guitar setup, but it looks like they've taken it down.
I'm excited for this record though. Their drummer is REALLY solid, and it shows through in these recordings with Tue... I've noticed that because Tue tends to use more of a blended sample/mic kick sound, he really gets mixed results on different projects. Sometimes the kick drum hits are left sounding a little uneven, while Andy does a clean, full on 100% sample. I suppose Tue's method is a little more "honest", but I certainly prefer Andy's work over Tue's.
Anyway, my point being, August Burns Red's drummer isn't just rhythmically tight, but his hits are all extremely even and clean and clear sounding, so his consistency combined with Tue's style of mixing makes for one of Tue's better sounding drum mixes.
 
I think Tue gets some of the best drum sounds in metal...its a perfectly balance of organic and super-polished, I love it
 
Aaron Smith said:
Their drummer is REALLY solid, and it shows through in these recordings with Tue...
Click to expand...

Two words: Beat Detective

I've noticed that because Tue tends to use more of a blended sample/mic kick sound, he really gets mixed results on different projects. Sometimes the kick drum hits are left sounding a little uneven, while Andy does a clean, full on 100% sample. I suppose Tue's method is a little more "honest", but I certainly prefer Andy's work over Tue's. Anyway, my point being, August Burns Red's drummer isn't just rhythmically tight, but his hits are all extremely even and clean and clear sounding, so his consistency combined with Tue's style of mixing makes for one of Tue's better sounding drum mixes.
Click to expand...

The dynamics of hits & samples can be controlled to the utmost extent.
 
Darkening said:
Two words: Beat Detective

The dynamics of hits & samples can be controlled to the utmost extent.
Click to expand...

Rilly lol?! OMG whats beat detector?

Dude I'm fully aware of what Beat Detective is and I work with drum samples on a daily basis. My comments about their drummer's tightness were in no way based on any recording I've ever heard, it was from seeing the guy live several times. Why would you just decide to step in and assume that I don't know what I'm talking about?
 
Aaron Smith said:
Rilly lol?! OMG whats beat detector?

Dude I'm fully aware of what Beat Detective is and I work with drum samples on a daily basis. My comments about their drummer's tightness were in no way based on any recording I've ever heard, it was from seeing the guy live several times. Why would you just decide to step in and assume that I don't know what I'm talking about?
Click to expand...

Just take it easy for a second and remember where you are.

Your post said nothing of live performances, but I did misread your post now that I look at it again.

If the reinforcement/replacement isn't 100%, and it still sounds consistent, then fucking shit yeah, bro.

My statement was for all the people who don't know about BT/Replacement and how it turns every drummer who's "pretty tight" into "solid as fuck".

:Smokin:
 
Darkening said:
Just take it easy for a second and remember where you are.

Your post said nothing of live performances, but I did misread your post now that I look at it again.

If the reinforcement/replacement isn't 100%, and it still sounds consistent, then fucking shit yeah, bro.

My statement was for all the people who don't know about BT/Replacement and how it turns every drummer who's "pretty tight" into "solid as fuck".

:Smokin:
Click to expand...

Fair enough, and I apologize if I came across too strongly. I was indeed sort of irritated at the moment, but also text on a screen is of course a terrible way to communicate when it comes to deciphering someone's mood.
 
I like the music itself and the sound of the guitars. But the drums... one of Madsen´s worst jobs in my opinion. Kick and snare don´t even sound like being of one recording-session (or taken from one drumkit) and the OHs are way to loud and bright. Yeah, it sounds tight and smashing, but kind of like a tight smashing plastic-kit.

I´m wondering if it´s the band who wants this sound, cuz I don´t like adam d.´s drumsound of their "thrillseeker" neither. Again it´s that "doesn´t sound like one kit"-thing.
 
Yeah, "Thrill Seeker" has kind of a weird snare to it...I think the kick and toms are pretty homogeneous though. I've listened to "Messengers" a few times since I bought it, and the drum sound is definitely irritating. The bright OHs have been mentioned already, and although the drums are snappy and punchy, they sound pretty small...I'm sure that's what you meant by the "tight and smashing..." thing.
Overall I think "Messengers" is a whole lot less memorable than the previous release. All of the breakdown parts sound almost entirely identical, and it doesn't help that the drummer ALWAYS goes back to his china for those parts. Whenever this kind of thing happens with a band, I always wonder how they could possibly not have realized it when they were writing.
 
Overall I think "Messengers" is a whole lot less memorable than the previous release.
Click to expand...

+1!
Whenever this kind of thing happens with a band, I always wonder how they could possibly not have realized it when they were writing.
Click to expand...

Perhaps they intentional do that to provide some recognition or own style.

I'm sure that's what you meant by the "tight and smashing..." thing.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Yeah, "Thrill Seeker" has kind of a weird snare to it...I think the kick and toms are pretty homogeneous though.
Click to expand...

That exactly says what I meant. Sounds like the snare got recorded in a larger room, or if the drummer had oversized monster-arms and plays his snare far behind the rest of his kit.

But I somehow like the ride (especially -bell) sound on their productions.
 
I think the "Thrill Seeker" snare maybe got a little bit whacked during mastering...it sounds kind of softened and spongy, you know? Hard to believe that it would be mixed that way...however, Adam D. has been known to kind of such with his snare from time to time with his older work...aka, The Acacia Strain "The Dead Walk".
 
Aaron Smith said:
and it doesn't help that the drummer ALWAYS goes back to his china for those parts.
Click to expand...

that was one of the first things I noticed as well, I really like the rest of his playing but the continous abuse of the cymbals is kinda annoying. can't really comment about the rest, I have just listened to the album on crappy headphones, but in general I seem not to be a huge fan of madsens work. He is certainly not bad, but there is always something a little irritating in his mixes.
 
ill just admit, that i am somewhat a n00b, but i think the whoel album mesh's together well. listening to the kit by itself is kinda depressing and anti-climactic (is thats a word) but the dynamics of the entire album IMO is good. i think the album is meant to explode onto your speakers, rather than be deciphered from an audio production point of view.

but thats me, and im just a n00b without an avatar. :)
 
Aaron Smith said:
I think the "Thrill Seeker" snare maybe got a little bit whacked during mastering...it sounds kind of softened and spongy, you know? Hard to believe that it would be mixed that way...however, Adam D. has been known to kind of such with his snare from time to time with his older work...aka, The Acacia Strain "The Dead Walk".
Click to expand...
Yeah "Thrill Seeker" definitely had the trademark Adam D kick and snare samples. Seems like he uses that same kick sound for a lot of stuff he did (He Is Legend, ETID, I think I heard it on that recording of "This Fire Burns"). And if I remember correctly, he said he was mixing that album while on the tour bus with Killswitch which makes me think he probably did it on headphones.
 
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