Need mastering tips for extreme metal

[P-Keisari]

Hi! I've been mixing this one brutal death metal album (Nile, Origin, Dying Fetus kind of stuff) for a while now and now I'm at the stage of the mastering process. And yes, I know that its very much recommended that mastering the album should be done by someone else with different space and setup but right now its not possible.

The album is nicely balanced but my problem is that I can't master it loud enough without crushing the whole mix. And yes, I know all about the "loudness wars" but when it comes to brutal massive death metal, you kinda expect it to be loud and not really that dynamic. Dynamic, yes, but not THAT dynamic. Well, at least I do.

To be more precise my greatest problem is that I don't now how to master the mix... how should I put it... "dense" enough. Densier tracks often feel louder without having to crush the whole thing. I've tried all sorts of mastering compressors, multi-band compressors, limiters but I still can't do it quite right.

All this is really hard for me to explain, but someone here with experience in mastering might understand what I'm actually trying to say here.

I'd be really glad if someone could give me some tips, recommend some vst plugins etc. (preferably free-ones, since I'm broke)

Thank you!

 

[henryjarv]

Well, I know nothing about (real) mastering, but I still do it to my own songs (just a hobby...). And I use only free VST plugins.
Download almost everything from Variety of Sound, and Gvst........Those are about all I use for mastering.

And I usually have that same loudness problem, don't really know what is enough, or too much...

 

[Korwent]

Post a clip, and someone might be able to help you!