Revisiting Orpheus (my take on melodeath)

[Ermz]

Hey guys,

An album I helped produce and mixed earlier in the year.

I look back and see this as one of my landmark stylistic achievements. To my knowledge nobody has done this kind of production aesthetic in melodic death metal before. The genre has been covered fairly heavily since the early 90s, and this was our take to get some freshness in the sound.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaDx2FNGfxw&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVBKIJo0FDk&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcB2PjJQoc&feature=related[/ame]

Thanks for listening!

As always, there is a higher quality track on my site if you want to hear it without the YT obfuscation.

 

[osum]

I bought that album recently and I really dig it. Especially that bass tone is killer. It blends really nice with the guitar tone. What was there used?

 

[Ermz]

I think Milky used some LTD bass. Mahogany with EMG hzs maybe. I reamped it into both my PSA-1 and Dunlop MXR and blended them for the final grit. It also ran through the Millennia, Distressor & 1176 Rev D for compression and EQ, among a bunch of plug-ins.

 

[Melb_shredder]

Schecter Studio Custom 6 - EMG HZ (I know I know.. Terrible)

 

[domingooo]

Amazing Band.. Great Record.. Great MiX and Mastering...

It became a reference point to me

well done guys!

 

[Ermz]

Cheers. I'm very happy with that album. It definitely has a certain vibe.

 

[Ola Englund]

Great band and production. But Milky?

 

[Ermz]

He's whiter than me!

 

[Empathy]

Unscathed is probably the catchiest fucking song I've heard all year. Absolutely amazing work by the band and all involved. Going to buy a second copy just because it's THAT GOOD.

 

[CubanDude]

both, music and mix

btw: clicked on the bodom song "Not My Funeral" after listening to unscathed... this mix sounds like ass in comparison.. but could also be youtube, so take that with a grain of salt

 

[nwright]

To my knowledge nobody has done this kind of production aesthetic in melodic death metal before. The genre has been covered fairly heavily since the early 90s, and this was our take to get some freshness in the sound.

what do you think you did different from anyone doing this kind of music to make it "fresh"? What different aesthetic are you talking about?

 

[P-E]

I dig the whole mix a lot except for the synths' sounds. Apart from that everything is pretty much phenomenal, vocals are a bit loud but I dig them anyway.
Bass and guitars are so awesome. Drums have so much power too.

 

[Melb_shredder]

what do you think you did different from anyone doing this kind of music to make it "fresh"? What different aesthetic are you talking about?

I think ermz is taking about how the mix isn't that typical thin tocky drums, underpowered bass etc. It's hard to make the upbeat stuff stay sounding tight but still have a mix sound BIG so to speak. Eg? The drums have a massive rock vibe about them despite despite generally asking for that thinner tocky sound most melodeath mixes tend to get

That was my thoughts when we got the mixes back

 

[AllanD]

My only gripe with the album is that the bass doesn't have much have much note definition. On the song "Face of Vengeance" I can barely tell what the bass is playing. It's like it's just a harmonic frequency sitting in the mix. Other than that I like the sound of this album a lot.

 

[NSGUITAR]

Sounds pretty sweet, but the vox are super burried and snare is way too loud and sorta doesn't fit the mood.

 

[Ermz]

vocals are a bit loud but I dig them anyway.

but the vox are super burried

forums can be interesting places to cultivate feedback!

@CubanDude: For some reason the main versions of these songs on YT are super crushed at the regular quality setting. Listen at 1080p to get something resembling the actual mix.

@nwright: What Melb_shredder said.

 

[AndrewB]

What kind of EQ are you using on the bass? Are you splitting it into a low end track and high end grit track like a lot of people do?

 

[Ermz]

Yes. In this case there were 3 tracks. Low-end (plain DI), Distortion (Dunlop MXR) and Grit (PSA-1).

The EQ was a combination of Millennia Origin for broad sculpting, and eQuality for fine tuning.

 

[AndrewB]

What's the difference between distortion and grit?

Does the distortion carry the mids, maybe?

HOW DO MIX BASS???

 

[Kita]

What verb did you use on the snare and guitar leads? I'm doing a mix for a band that makes me think of these guys. Good reference for me.