Black Metal clip, all real (of course) inside

[Uros]

These guys just did a single that consists of two songs with me. At first, they only came with intention of recording guitars (drums and bass were already recorded in another studio, which is exactly they wanted to record vocals and mix the single, after we finish the guitars).
They ended up recording guitars and vocals.
After that, I made rough mixes just so they can have something to listen to. The band were very positive about it, which had led them to eventually dump the idea of taking it back to that other studio, so they actually asked me to do all the mixing. They are very satisfied.
Now they are going to do a label search, in order to find the budget for their 2nd LP (they released their 1st for Infernus' Forces of Satan Records), which hopefully they will record with me (we have made that deal actually )

What I came up with is this (one song here):
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9659648/Black Devotion Manifest.mp3
I am very proud how guitars have turned out.

Thoughts?

 

[Uros]

bump

 

[Redline4]

There's some strange room to the vocals but I guess that's what you were going for I am wrong?

 

[Uros]

Yeah, that's how the band wanted. Not exactly my cup of tea, but it's pretty usual for the style they play I'd say.

 

[Uros]

The band put both songs on youtube. Pick 480p for the best quality.

 

[spacem00se]

Sounds like a typical modern BM (say, post-Watain) studio production. Only drawback is that the clean vox seem to be too loud (and I don't like'em somehow), everything else sounds just cool to my ears.

 

[Fama]

I actually like this pretty much, although I'm usually not a fan of black metal. I hate the whole "Hey let's do real shitty sounding stuff, it's more real" thing some of them do. But I really like this, good tones but still vibey and not at all the modern squeky clean production. Fits the music really well.

Edit: Yeah, I really don't listen to BM at all

 

[xmortumx]

sounds good man.. but that guitar tone seems a bit too gainy on the highs... kind of fatiguing after a while don't you think so? other than that im digging it dude!

 

[zirkonflex]

For my taste BM this slow needs more wierdness and crazy shit in the production, layer'd vocals, guitars and generally more athmosphere.
I'd also aim for a more exciting guitar sound and a louder bass.

/ take a listen to gorgoroth's "Sign of an open Eye" or something similar, that what I thought of.
// don't bash me if they are not true in the BM scene right now, its only about the production (No need for Ghaal homo-vocals btw.)
/// I like the song and my concerns about the production are just nitpicking.

 

[Uros]

Sounds like a typical modern BM (say, post-Watain) studio production. Only drawback is that the clean vox seem to be too loud (and I don't like'em somehow), everything else sounds just cool to my ears.

Hey man, really glad for Watain reference. Actually, it' really what we were going for! I also wanted the clean vox to be more in background, but this was also band's decision.

I actually like this pretty much, although I'm usually not a fan of black metal. I hate the whole "Hey let's do real shitty sounding stuff, it's more real" thing some of them do. But I really like this, good tones but still vibey and not at all the modern squeky clean production. Fits the music really well.

Thanks a lot!

sounds good man.. but that guitar tone seems a bit too gainy on the highs... kind of fatiguing after a while don't you think so? other than that im digging it dude!

I can see where are you coming from, I guess it's just a matter of taste. Thanks!

For my taste BM this slow needs more wierdness and crazy shit in the production, layer'd vocals, guitars and generally more athmosphere.
I'd also aim for a more exciting guitar sound and a louder bass.

The band were strictly against any additional stuff. I would've get a bit crazy with some creative panning, different reverb and delay times, even filtering. But this was not an option, 'cause my main goal was to make the client happy (actually, I did some of this stuff, but they were very strict about not wanting much if any fx).

As far as bass guitar goes, it was a concious decision, as the track itself was not well played. If you listen, you can hear that the bass is more audible in this 'Black...' song, as it was better executed. Despite it being black metal and troo, I have decided to not allow uncontrollable bursts of random 16ths to be audible

What do you exactly mean under 'more exciting guitar sound'?

I will listen to that song, thanks for suggestion!

 

[zirkonflex]

I can imagine what the band wanted, you certainly did a good job doing that.
Your guitar sounds very unprocessed, and for a band that wants to sound natural thats very reasonable.

For me there are two routes you can take for BM guitars.
Either you give them the "practice room" vibe which equals natural Darkthrone grimmness, or you process them to make them sound frostbitten like for example Immortal does nowadays.
They/you choose the grimm path and did a good job.





I'm just shitting around, I have no idea about BM