Black Metal Mixing

[sickgod]

Hi.. I guess this is the only place where i can get some answers on how to go ahead with recording and mixing Black Metal guitars. I have a pretty crappy setup, using a Cort X-6 (Passive Pickups) POD XT Live into Cubase SX3. Tone shaping has become a major issue for me using the POD. I ve heard of impulses working with Boogex but not quite happy with the end results. Can someone suggest me the basics for this kind of music....

 

[Full_Tilt]

Well as you might or might not know there are a few production styles for black metal , "necro" as in the most low tech dark primitive form and or everything else . Stuff like new Dimmu Borgir for E.G is actually a top notch pro production that could easily be used for most metal.
It seems that most black metal bands these days aren't looking for a 90's "black metal" production because it sounds rubbish .
It used to consist of a heavily distorted bass on the bridge pickup , thin weedy guitars swamped in reverb similar thing going on with vocals and nothing special for anything else.
Give us a few pointers and maybe someone here will know how to get the sound your after.

 

[Seizure.]

I depends on what the band wants, but if you are looking for some good references, an album like isa from enslaved is still pretty well sounding while still retaining that coldness bm should have

 

[Fox Mulder]

Weapon (Canada) had a single guitar take in their album "Para Bhakti... Salvation". The was guitar panned left, and the vocals panned right.
May seem awkward, but it sounds great. (or maybe i just got habituated).

However, their upcoming album "Drakonian Paradigm" which is about to be released by the AJNA Offensive within the next few weeks has dual tracked guitars, and not to mention slight progressive touches here and there. Production-wise, it's not gonna be all polished/trendy/blah but something that's easy to listen to and harsh at the same time. You get the point.

 

[sickgod]

Well as you might or might not know there are a few production styles for black metal , "necro" as in the most low tech dark primitive form and or everything else . Stuff like new Dimmu Borgir for E.G is actually a top notch pro production that could easily be used for most metal.
It seems that most black metal bands these days aren't looking for a 90's "black metal" production because it sounds rubbish .
It used to consist of a heavily distorted bass on the bridge pickup , thin weedy guitars swamped in reverb similar thing going on with vocals and nothing special for anything else.
Give us a few pointers and maybe someone here will know how to get the sound your after.

Thanks..... that was quite an eyeopener.. "necro" interesting...

 

[Fox Mulder]

Best of luck yaar

 

[Full_Tilt]

Thanks..... that was quite an eyeopener.. "necro" interesting...

Ha ha ! yeah just think 4 track the thinnest most distorted guitar tone you can create bung some reverb on what ever you like and your half way there.
"necro"
Once a few of those style albums were released competition between those bands evolved a more produced sound but it was never the same in my opinion .
Dark Throne "A blaze in the northern sky" was the most black metal sounding album to come out of the 90's .

 

[eligortyphon06]

"necro" might not be the right word for it. its not like they wanted the sound to be like that necessarily, they just didn't have money and didn't care enough to wait on making money. Its the later black metal bands that actually tried to make their music sound cold and shitty.

Nonetheless, if you're looking for a good black metal mix, listen to that dimmu album. In Sorte Diaboli is my favorite metal mix by far.

 

[mr.L.]

I think modellers are not the best way to get a black metal sound, but with the POD XT you can get a really nice and agressive tone for this kind of music with the triple rectifier model (from the metal pack) and the cabinet with the T75s. Just dial in a large amount of drive (around 80-90%) and treble (about 90%) and leave the presence at around 50% and turn the mids and bass down a bit. Double or quad track this. Then stick a nice fat overdriven bass under it and you should be pretty much set.

 

[slashvanyoung]

Dark Throne "A blaze in the northern sky" was the most black metal sounding album to come out of the 90's .

Ulver's "Nattens Madrigal" comes pretty close - it just hurts!

For a Black Metal production it really is important to catch their vibe. If they play raw, aggressive BM, it's better to keep it simple. Stuff like Dimmu on the other hand relies on a pretty bombastic production to unfold, whereas avant-garde bands like Deathspell Omega or Abigor benefit from a really clinical, sterile tone.

My favourite BM production is probably the latest Marduk, "Rom 5:12". Love the drums on that one.

 

[Dom Ostarig]

I think you all will wanna hit me, but to me, the true black metal guitar tone comes out from single pickups.

 

[mr.L.]

My favourite BM production is probably the latest Marduk, "Rom 5:12". Love the drums on that one.

I think the bass sound on that album is very annoying.


Some black metal productions I really like are:
Deathspell Omega - Kenose (although it's a little to smashed)
Enslaved - RUUN (guitar sound on ISA is great too, but the bassdrum on that album annoys the shit out of me)
Gorgoroth - Ad Majorem Gloriam Satanhas
Keep of Kalessin - Armada
Primordial - To the Nameless Dead
Secrets of the Moon - The Exhibitions

I still like the production of the first two Celtic Frost albums and Ulver's Bergtatt, but that might be nostalgia

 

[slashvanyoung]

I still like the production of the first two Celtic Frost albums and Ulver's Bergtatt, but that might be nostalgia

You're not alone there. Those CF records are pretty bass-heavy by today's standards, but I dig them. And Bergtatt beats everything in that genre that was released in that time-frame. The verby vocals... the whole package. Such an awesome piece of music...

I can see people having problems with the bass on that Marduk release - as much as some people can't stand the "oil-tanker dragged across a shore"-bass-sound from Meshuggah, but I like it. Okay, I might be a bit biased here, because I feel it was their best record in quite some time.

One band, I always felt had a lucky hand adjusting their productions to their current mindframe music-wise, are Mayhem.

 

[mr.L.]

You're not alone there. Those CF records are pretty bass-heavy by today's standards, but I dig them. And Bergtatt beats everything in that genre that was released in that time-frame. The verby vocals... the whole package. Such an awesome piece of music...

I think that Ulver album beats everything in that genre past or present. The guitars are a bit fuzzy and the bass lacks some fatness but I really like the vocal, accoustics and lead sounds. Not to mention the fact that everything works well together and gives the album it's own unique atmosphere.

One band, I always felt had a lucky hand adjusting their productions to their current mindframe music-wise, are Mayhem.

Yeah while I don't like all their work nor all their productions, I do think it's very cool that their productions match the music and they're not afraid of doing rather radical things (the ultra clinical sound on Grand Declaration of War and the muddy necro sound on Ordo ad Chao). Definitely gives their records alot of character that I miss in a lot of metal albums.

 

[Metaltastic]

Hi-passing everything at 200 Hz is mandatory