Possibly my biggest drum sound

Haha, good call on the ride. I disliked the sound of it in the room on the day, and I'm still not thrilled every time I hear it on the record. As you know there's very little that can be done about cymbals after they're tracked, so it is what it is! If you want to hear a sick ride sound check out Elm Street's 'Barbed Wire Metal'. We finished that one up 2 or 3 months ago. It's still clicky, but awesome - sounds like someone fencing in the right speaker.

@Revson: What else did you want to know about?

@Internity: I can't remember exactly but the core of the grit came from my PSA-1 and the Dunlop MXR. I think I ran the MXR into Softube's Bass Amp room to round off the distortion with a cabinet/mic simulation. The PSA-1 was run straight. Standard sort of filtering stuff with the DI and the grit, breaking them up into their respective frequency zones, then recombined them and processed it all together. The analogue stuff would've helped round it all off. I started by using Nebula's CLC, as always, then ran it through my Millennia, 1176 Rev D and Distressor. That was for the bulk of the compression and EQ. C4 and L1 were used for more squeezing, probably eQuality somewhere for fine notching/balancing of the low-end, and I might just have used a CurveEQ impulse from the Come Clarity bass to get the low-end gelling in a similar way. I was really digging that vibe for this record, so thought why not. It can also help with the top-end since Come Clarity was done with a real cab/mic rig, and I had to use a digital one. Sometimes the high-mids can get a bit static and abrasive, so the EQ matching can help out a little.

@fatalforce: Really cool to hear that. Glad you like it.

It's funny, Chris, I was going to respond to your post above by saying if we had to do it all over again... stylistically I probably wouldn't change a thing. Sure I wouldn't mind some higher quality starting points in regards to the drums and guitars, but beyond that, I think the approach was, for me, ideal for the music. Was going to remark that all I'd look to do for the coming record is 'improve' on what we've already started. But that SMS you sent kinda took the wind out of that idea's sails, haha.

All in all the thing I'm most proud of with this record is how unique and iconic it sounds (to me anyway). I think we really established an aesthetic identity for the band with it, which is really important when you're duking it out in a genre that's been around so long, and covered so thoroughly.

To cap it off, here's my favourite song from the record:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSoZHtxd6Oo&feature=related[/ame]
 
I can't get over the kick. On the second song posted, at the beginning when the kick comes in with the quarter notes and it's exposed more or less, it is absurdly massive and as soggy as it could get. Are you doing any sort of EQ automation or anything on the kick because it just seems like it would crush the mix but when all the voices come in, it sits perfectly. This (more or less) has been what I am trying to achieve, hear the click and feel the girth. Are you cutting everything else around it or is it a big role of automation in the kick track(s)? Or all elements of mixing? :p
 
From memory this was the one album this year where I did virtually no kick automation whatsoever. That thing is just flying free at solid settings. I only dipped the top-end during softer sections so it wouldn't click too much. The way I'd set all the compressors basically ducked the kicks for me during the double-bass parts.

That soggyness to the attack comes a lot from the Overstayer on the drum bus. I smashed it in parallel, but left some of the attack open, which gave the kick more of that soggy characteristic. Distressor running on Dist 3 mode also helped there. Can't recall whether the Millennia featured in there, so it could be all-ITB EQ. Sounds like there's a fair bit of room on that kick too, whether it be real room or sampled, I can't remember. You can hear the early reflections adding density to it at the start.
 
There's only 2 things that don't work for me in terms of the mix:

- Guitars sound really two-dimensional
- Cymbals sound like a wash of high frequency stuff. More body would have really brought up the choruses

Everything else sounds really good.

From a production point of view, there's a lot of stuff I would have done to maximise the songs in terms of dynamics (and probably structure too). There's some stuff where the drummer is staying on hats going into 'bigger' sections - needs to be on a crash. Also the variation in the vocals - his vocals are really cool for this style but the lead vocal line is almost entirely monotonous. I would have really gone overboard with getting those vocals really interesting rather than relying on backing vocals to bring it up. Every tiny element is interacting with every other tiny element, sometimes fighting for space, sometimes providing a platform for other stuff. Vocals are paramount though.

Obviously most metal these days is just one dynamic but you really have to maximise the songs to achieve a memorable production, not just an awesome mix. And this mix is sick so the potential on the next record is huge.

Sorry if that's a bit long and not very eloquent... just typing the thoughts that pop in my head whilst listening!

Lastly - to the band - this is a first record to be proud of. Not my cup of tea but I still respect and appreciate what you've done with it!
 
Wonderfull production, but the synth is kind of a huge issue for me.
During the partly muted parts it takes the power of the guitars away as it fills the holes that the mutes would create, it takes the dynamics away for me.
Maybe that or the guitars are a little ... weak (weak in volume that is!), I don't know.
For my taste the synths would need more prescence, they sound somewhat odd in the backyard there.
The drums are cool, I LOVE the toms, shit is serious.
I'd have drums (Kicks!) and guitars louder though.

/This all nitpicking like a 60 y old shooting at kids on his lawn with a watergun looking frostbitten in the process, your production rapes!
 
this shit is awesome hands down. it all works and as a cohesive unit, I totally dig it and I am totally getting a PSA-1 and the MXR Bass DI =D
 
pure awesomeness....the drums sound fantastic!
Can you tell us a little more about your drum argumentation? How much avatar is involved? How did you manage to get this huuuuuge snare? damn...i would kill to get my snares sound like this ^^
 
Drums sound absolutley h u g e :)
They're so much in front of everything in the mix, but still fits there well.

But: is it just me, or the drums are the best sounding element here?
I mean... anything else is pushed back because of this awesome sound :D
Im absolutley digging the snare :D


Ermz has gone beyond that level where he becomes from inspiring AE to a sick fuck that just makes you wanna quit mixing and play with your balls. :S Screw you dude. You just kick too much ass! :D
nuff said :dopey:
 
Everything sounds so good makes everything i make sound like shit... societies of steel has a bit of inflames vibe going on there.
 
Glad you're digging it, guys! Also appreciate the constructive comments on the other page. Always good to hear another take on things. Admittedly time and finances were limiting factors on this project, so not all our ideal situations came to fruition.

@Gonzo666: For this type of sound, don't be afraid to really crank the room up in level, and annihilate the crap out of it with compression. It was really an inappropriate drum mix... I did something I would normally do for rock music, and just forced repeatedly until it finally worked on a metal record.

Might leave you guys with another, more 'single' type track, classic Orpheus:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRE42mx8msA&feature=related[/ame]
 
hey Ermz , absolutely amazing stuff, this mixes have a very unique vibe to them, i really enjoy them! and i agree when you say that it gives the band its particular sound, and thats something really hard to achieve whit metal bands now days imo. so congratulations to everyone involved in the project !.
 
my god toms sound huge! , can you give some info on the processing? how do you manage to give them that in your face feel without overpowering the low end?
 
I don't think it was anything out of the ordinary on the toms. All the drums were processed with Nebula CLC first. Then just a Waves SSL strip, using the EQ and compression on there. I think I bussed them together and possibly did a little bit extra compression and EQ there (just a little probably). The rest was handled by the room sound and the parallel compression. A lot of the perceived 'largeness' is coming from there.

Glad you like it!
 
I don't think it was anything out of the ordinary on the toms. All the drums were processed with Nebula CLC first. Then just a Waves SSL strip, using the EQ and compression on there. I think I bussed them together and possibly did a little bit extra compression and EQ there (just a little probably). The rest was handled by the room sound and the parallel compression. A lot of the perceived 'largeness' is coming from there.

Glad you like it!

thanks for the info ermz.! :headbang: