New BACKMASK Mix, feedback welcome!

[Hapexamendios]

I dig the song dude. It still sounds like Backmask, which is good. Don't worry about the drums, they should be fixed when you record the live drums. The guitar tone is sweet. I'm digging it.

 

[EtherForBreakfast]

No love for ogg vorbis?

I think ogg > AAC/m4a.

Then again.. no ipod love for ogg. =( Too bad.

For personal cd ripping/winamp playback I'm all about the izznog. (ogg).

 

[Nitronium Blood]

I love the guitars.

But surely, you can't be serious about the snare.

The riffage and musicianship and all that is top notch. But... as Ether said, for some reason it does sound a bit weak in the pants.

There is some weird doubling going on with the growling vocals, and I don't know if that's intentional. It kind of made me laugh actually.

I can totally hear this as big sounding as DHIADW, but I just don't have the capacity to put my finger on why it does not just yet.

I think its the drums, can't wait to hear what the real drummer will bring to the mix.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Great guitar sound. Very gnarly. Let's hear a little more bass guitar though!
The vocal performance is excellent & well recorded. The drums.... are they programmed or
a pad performance? They sound programmed, but hey, I could be wrong.

Altogether tho, good effort!

-0z-

 

[Nitronium Blood]

Great guitar sound. Very gnarly. Let's hear a little more bass guitar though!
The vocal performance is excellent & well recorded. The drums.... are they programmed or
a pad performance?

Drums are Battery until we can properly record our new drummer

.

 

[Kazrog]

Drums are programmed. My drummer doesn't have an electronic kit, and I'm going to work with him a bit on the programmed parts to bring a bit more of his personality into it. This demo is going to sound slightly better soon when we post it, but not by much. I think this is about as good as we can do with the resources we have at the moment. Thanks for your comments, you guys, it's good to have a sanity check, and almost all of your comments are in line with how I feel about the mix. Glad to know I don't have tunnel-vision.

 

[Kazrog]

I love the guitars.

But surely, you can't be serious about the snare.

The riffage and musicianship and all that is top notch. But... as Ether said, for some reason it does sound a bit weak in the pants.

There is some weird doubling going on with the growling vocals, and I don't know if that's intentional. It kind of made me laugh actually.

I can totally hear this as big sounding as DHIADW, but I just don't have the capacity to put my finger on why it does not just yet.

I think its the drums, can't wait to hear what the real drummer will bring to the mix.

Yes, there is double tracking in most of the growling vocals, and if it makes you laugh, that's OK. Behemoth makes me laugh too, and I love them! And I would love for this to sound as big as "Dead Heart..." although I don't expect to achieve that given the resources currently at our disposal.

I put too much reverb, particularly dark reverb actually, on the goddamn drums, and I will fix that, I promise.

 

[Nitronium Blood]

I would love for this to sound as big as "Dead Heart..." although I don't expect to achieve that given the resources currently at our disposal.

I think you are capable of making your mix even more 'awesomer'. Quit the negative attitude will ya?

 

[Razorjack]

I put too much reverb, particularly dark reverb actually, on the goddamn drums, and I will fix that, I promise.

That's my only problem with the mix, the verb on the drums is too dark, the level could be ok with some more brightness to the verb. I LOVE the music and personally think your vox sound great.

Actually, on second listen the intro synth needs to come down slightly so that the track kicks in more, like "instinct" or "nerve".

Great job overall!!

 

[Frank'nfurter]

Cool.. a new song eh?...

How does one open that M4a file Shane or anyone else? windows wont let it play here..

Download the VLC Media Player. It's for videos, pics and even m4a files and it's freeware.

 

[Nostalgiaplatz]

I am listening to it on a shitty pair of headphones and here's what I think of it:

the pinched harmonics sound delicious! the guitar tone sounds solid, but would probably need more loudness/presence in the mix to sound even better. The kick drums sound good, but the trrr trrr trrr tr part would sound better if it was more tight like gated/compressed. The clean vocals sound like they need less effect and more loudness, are you recording vocals at whispering levels? the intro effect is great too. The drums need to be more present as well. I bet you can make it easily, all in all, very good song.

Is backmask signed yet?

 

[unsilpauly]

im just listening on my powerbook speakers right now, but i think it sounds really good man, good song. kike razor said i think the synth part could come down alittle. other than that i really think its workin pretty sweet.
great job man.

 

[Kazrog]

I am listening to it on a shitty pair of headphones and here's what I think of it:

the pinched harmonics sound delicious! the guitar tone sounds solid, but would probably need more loudness/presence in the mix to sound even better. The kick drums sound good, but the trrr trrr trrr tr part would sound better if it was more tight like gated/compressed. The clean vocals sound like they need less effect and more loudness, are you recording vocals at whispering levels? the intro effect is great too. The drums need to be more present as well. I bet you can make it easily, all in all, very good song.

Is backmask signed yet?

Thanks! Gonna be working on the mix again tonight with my drummer, gonna get things ironed out this time. I'm not using any FX on the vocals except some very conservative EQ and compression. I recorded all my vocals at full volume, somewhere between talking and yelling. I just need to ride the faders and mix the vocals properly (right now they're just static faders thrown wherever.)

We're not signed, and we're in the process of writing a full-length record. Even though this band has technically been around since 2001, I've started over with a new lineup and decided to to pursue exactly the music I want to make. I started BACKMASK in 2001 with the intention of doing extreme metal, but past members managed to tame the sound a bit. I'm really happy to have the right lineup now who's on the same page with me!

 

[Fabbio]

Great!!!

I already knew the song from your previous demo. Great guitars, very good kickdrums, snare a little lost in the mix, I like the whispered voice, the clean one and the screams seems a little taken back. Give yourself more into those screams!!!

Anyway, I would like to be this good.

...oh! And lower a little the synth intro, Razorjack is right.

CheerS!!!

 

[Black neon bob]

Bit late to the party now, but i heard it, and simply loved it!

I agree with what most people have said, so i wont go out and repeat all that again, but it's all the things said about the synth (taming them a bit) and the snare... , and you know about the dark reverb the drums have, so that's cool and taken care of.

that's it.. solid song, great performance!!

Good vocals as well!