Ever since getting put onto this album by a few folks touting it on a 'your fave production' thread a year or two back, it's had me absolutely perplexed.
I had never up until that moment, nor since, heard something so tight or well engineered.
If you really take the time to listen (and I have... hours per day since finding it) you realize that the individual elements are really quite weak. The guitars are quite grainy and have a very odd midrange exertion. Drums are very thin and don't pump much. Bass is very low, with not very much mid-bass content. Vocals very dry and up front.
Yet when it comes mixed together and hits you all at once, all you can really say is 'fuck... +1 Danne'.
Even in the major label pop/rock productions I have heard nothing like this. Sure, their use of outboard and analogue desks gives their productions a nice, textured flavor, but rarely is the mix sculpted to near perfection as this one is.
In fact I was just referencing an all-ITB lady gaga track, and being dance music you expect it to be entirely pushed. Max level, max low end, max vocal, max effects. So I went on to put STD after it, as a reference, and to my disbelief STD dominated it.
For a metal production to be able to come close to the technical level of a dance track is just amazing, much less actually IMPROVE on it. We deal with real drums, real guitars, real bass etc. which have natural variances and tolerances. A mix can only be geared towards one 'velocity' or one texture from the track, so naturally dance music with its synthesized drums, bass and synths, which are almost 100% the same the whole way through generally has much tighter mixes. It made me realize the importance of limiting everything and squashing every bit of dynamic from the material, so every move, every change can be automated in with a purpose - with total control.
I probably can't say enough praise about this production because it totally re-evaluated the way I think about mixing. I know Bergstrand has a very defined style which at times work more than others, but on this record in particular, it just gelled 100%. At the moment I'm at odds, drawing in the textures and 'air' from mixers like CLA, Grosse, Staub etc. but at the same time taking more relevant digital lessons from guys like Bergstrand who don't rely on the gear, but rather their own ability to craft these wonderful masterpiece mixes.
What say you?
I had never up until that moment, nor since, heard something so tight or well engineered.
If you really take the time to listen (and I have... hours per day since finding it) you realize that the individual elements are really quite weak. The guitars are quite grainy and have a very odd midrange exertion. Drums are very thin and don't pump much. Bass is very low, with not very much mid-bass content. Vocals very dry and up front.
Yet when it comes mixed together and hits you all at once, all you can really say is 'fuck... +1 Danne'.
Even in the major label pop/rock productions I have heard nothing like this. Sure, their use of outboard and analogue desks gives their productions a nice, textured flavor, but rarely is the mix sculpted to near perfection as this one is.
In fact I was just referencing an all-ITB lady gaga track, and being dance music you expect it to be entirely pushed. Max level, max low end, max vocal, max effects. So I went on to put STD after it, as a reference, and to my disbelief STD dominated it.
For a metal production to be able to come close to the technical level of a dance track is just amazing, much less actually IMPROVE on it. We deal with real drums, real guitars, real bass etc. which have natural variances and tolerances. A mix can only be geared towards one 'velocity' or one texture from the track, so naturally dance music with its synthesized drums, bass and synths, which are almost 100% the same the whole way through generally has much tighter mixes. It made me realize the importance of limiting everything and squashing every bit of dynamic from the material, so every move, every change can be automated in with a purpose - with total control.
I probably can't say enough praise about this production because it totally re-evaluated the way I think about mixing. I know Bergstrand has a very defined style which at times work more than others, but on this record in particular, it just gelled 100%. At the moment I'm at odds, drawing in the textures and 'air' from mixers like CLA, Grosse, Staub etc. but at the same time taking more relevant digital lessons from guys like Bergstrand who don't rely on the gear, but rather their own ability to craft these wonderful masterpiece mixes.
What say you?
