High on Fire (another terrible Fidelman mix)

[DaveBlack]

yeah I was wrong, Skold did the horrible record after holy wood.

 

[R-Stuur]

Death is this communion had a killer mix, really cool saturated guitars. Punchy kicks but not obnoxious like these. If you're just getting into the band, do you yourself a favor and leave this one as the last in line to check out.

The kick drum is still fucking pissing me off on this record. Vocals also sound undefined, almost like its playback under water. The songs are cool but this is just too much for me

 

[The-Zeronaut]

HOLY SHIT THE NEW SLAYER SOUNDS LIKE ASS

+1
when the first song came out on their myspace
i thought "i hope this are just pre-production demos"
and then the album comes and
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?...

 

[thefyn]

You guys need to get used to real micd honest to goodness kick drums..hehe

 

[PhilR]

You guys need to get used to real micd honest to goodness kick drums..hehe

I've never been able to make a kick drum sound like that. Just sounds like a horrid plastic click. I wonder if he used the old 'credit card taped to the drumhead' trick.

 

[26]

maybe it's a new trend. mixes that polarize for hype.

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

That kick sounds like someone hitting an empty milk bottle... Seriously... I can understand why their sound asks for a really raw mix, just like southern rock/metal, but this is just way too bad... it sounds as there is no mix at all... it's so flat, there's no excitment anywhere, doesn't tingle your ears in any way... just awful

 

[paladin shredder]

even though the eq is really strange and it's muddy as shit, i'll say one good thing: everything does have it's own space.

 

[Manicompression]

maybe it's a new trend. mixes that polarize for hype.

dude, you might be on to something here. too funny!!

 

[Waterboy]

maybe it's a new trend. mixes that polarize for hype.

I was just thinking about the "What will be the next big thing in metal?" thread.
It seems that I saw a few opinions that mentioned Metal going toward a more "raw" sounding mix .... this may very well be where it's headin'
Just my humble 2¢

 

[ATLA]

this band sounds this terrible live. maybe they just wanted a live sound?

 

[Gustavo_Loureiro]

sounds good to me, big low end. much better than some ultra polished stuff that some of you guys worship
they are my favorite metal band!

 

[26]

I was just thinking about the "What will be the next big thing in metal?" thread.
It seems that I saw a few opinions that mentioned Metal going toward a more "raw" sounding mix .... this may very well be where it's headin'
Just my humble 2¢

Yes, I agree. The "raw again" mindset very likely plays a role here.
I refuse to imagine that what we hear isn't mixed by intention.

 

[SkybluestudiosBEN]

Theres a difference between a AWESOME sounding RAW mix and a extremely SHITTY SOUNDING RAW mix. This one is in the SHITTY SOUNDING category. Id say Soilworks Predators Portrait is RAW but is still rockin, same with As The Palace Burns by Lamb Of God.

 

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

What ^he^ said. There's a big difference between sounding raw and sounding bad. Raw means unprocessed, not unmixed. All the old R'n'B and early rock records (Buddy Holly, Marvin Gaye) are raw as they were pretty much recorded live, but they still hold up today. Nirvana sound raw, but you can still hear everything properly.

That High On Fire track is just weird. Part of the problem is that the two elements that stick out (the kick and the vocals) are both really dry as well, which makes them stand out even more. The vocals almost sound like guides.

Steve

 

[MetalJonesy]

a good raw mix is the likes of Unearth III in the eyes of fire, thats killer

 

[26]

I'm not here to defend those kind of mixes. I never said I like them.
But I ask myself if this kind of raw is directed at trained ears or the "old metal fan".
I just can't believe that bands like Metallica or Slayer choose someone who doesn't understand his craft.

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

This definitely is far better than his mixes on Death Magnetic and World Painted Blood. It really doesn't sound that bad to me asides from the kick sounding like shit and the guitars being thin (which is sad cos I know Pike is a tone fanatic.)

I don't think they'll ever top Blessed Black Wings or Death is This Communion, though. IMO only the first three tracks and last two are great, the rest are boring. BBW and DITC I could listen to all the way through and not be bored.

 

[smy1]

I just can't believe that bands like Metallica or Slayer choose someone who doesn't understand his craft.

This is actually NORMAL everywhere in every business.

 

[iHate]

What happened to moving forward to new and exciting things?

Sounds like fucking garbage. I'd rather listen to Nickelback and their shit lyrics.