The Haunted - Versus Production

[Fragle]

so, what's everybody's verdict on this one?
i think it starts out really good (aside of the second track, which is boring imho) but doesn't quite hold the same level throughout the album, stuff like imperial death march or trenches just doesn't fit the haunted, to my ears at least.
however, i liked how they (tried to) combine their older sound with the new approach of the dead eye.

anyways, they're stating that they recorded the album live in the studio.
does anyone have further information as to how exactly you would do that?
i mean, lead guitars and vocals are obviously overdubbed, so i guess they only recorded the backing track so to speak live.
what i was thinking, maybe they had everyone play at the same time, using isolation booths and headphones so the guitars won't bleed into the drum mics, and maybe also recorded DI signals from the guitars, giving them the option (aside from reamping) to fix guitar tracks more easily.
but, that's just mere guesswork really....so, if anyone has an idea how they recorded the album - or how you'd generally go about recording an album "live" - please share

 

[Fredrik-Ablaze]

the album was recorded at PUK studios, HUUUUUUUGE studio with lot's of isorooms.
i think Anders did a few videos when recording, check their youtubechannel, bet there's a making of DVD in the works as well if there isn't one allready

as I recall they hade a shitloads of mikes on their rigs so I don't think that there's any reamping involved, but that's just guessworks from me

EDIT: Check it out:

 

[sparkyness]

Am a massive Haunted (avec Dolving) fan but this one hasn't rattled my nads yet, unlike Revolver and Dead Eye. The vibe is cool, but the writing isn't up to their usual high standards IMO. I know Dolving had some throat problems during recording.

Will have to give it a couple more spins and see if it's a "grower".....

 

[PhilR]

anyways, they're stating that they recorded the album live in the studio.
does anyone have further information as to how exactly you would do that?
i mean, lead guitars and vocals are obviously overdubbed, so i guess they only recorded the backing track so to speak live.
what i was thinking, maybe they had everyone play at the same time, using isolation booths and headphones so the guitars won't bleed into the drum mics, and maybe also recorded DI signals from the guitars, giving them the option (aside from reamping) to fix guitar tracks more easily.

From the video it looks like they all played together in the drum room with both cabs back-to-back in an isolation booth, and the bass rig in the corridor by the looks of it! Solo's and vocals were overdubbed.

We did this with a band we recorded no so long ago (DI'd the bass though). Mainly because we find that inexperienced bands don't adjust well to recording their parts separately. Got a good result.

 

[Fragle]

first of all, thanks for the video!

so, the basic procedure was indeed quite similar to what i thought.
now, next question....i wonder whether they played every song all the way through, or if they broke it up into sections?
technically, recording "live" would mean the former, but i'd guess it took a whole lot of takes until everybody nails all of his parts, in one single take.
or maybe they recorded the same song lets say three times, and then went into it and took that section from one take, another section from another take etc..
technically they might also have used the gtrs of take one, drums of take two etc, whatever whas best, but i'd assume that this could get you into problems, as you're basically taking a section where everybody is locked in to the other guys and tear it apart, so i doubt they went this route.

aside from that, yes, i'd definitely consider it a grower, even more so than dead eye, which already took me quite some time to get into, unlike revolver which was like BAM for me despite the absence of many (instrumental) layers, there are a lot of details to be discovered, which is really cool. however, the sometimes quite strong alternative metal influence is keeping the album from being *REALLY* good, as far as i am concerned at least.

 

[006]

I don't think they pieced the songs together that way from different takes. From what I understand they did not use a click track therefore using the guitars from one take and drums from another would be highly unlikely due to inconsistent timing issues that would naturally occur without a click track. They may have pieced together sections of songs from several takes though, meaning the best takes of the drums/guitar/bass together spliced together to make the whole song. However, I also do not believe they did it that way either. Most likely, or at least I would like to think so, they did everything together repeatedly until they all got it down perfectly.

~006

 

[PhilR]

I remember from a previous vid interview with Dolving that they spent about 3-4 months preparing to do this album. So I imagine getting good takes wasn't a problem.

I mean when you think about it, exactly why does this sound unusual? This is how bands should be recorded in my opinion. It worked fine for thousands of top bands recording over several decades. It's only in comparatively recent years that assembling songs in this jigsaw-like fashion has become the norm.

Last weekend we recorded drum parts for a local band we provide rehearsal space to. The guitarist dropped the news of the recording session booking on their drummer one week before he was expected to show up, and said to him "You're okay recording the parts by yourself to a click right?". He wasn't happy as he barely knew one of the songs he was expected to record. We suggested to him afterwards that we wouldn't mind trying to record them as a unit with the cabs isolated. His sarcastic response was; "What? You mean like a real band? They'd never go for that!".

 

[FarBeyondMetal]

I don't know any details about the recording that haven't already been talked about but I will say this. I am a huge the haunted fan and when I first downloaded this CD I was a bit disappointed. But for me atleast, it is definately a "grower"... I think the reason I didn't like it to begin with was because it wasn't what I expected. I expected complex writing and arrangement such as the Dead Eye and I got this raw straight to the point yet melodic and dynamic offering and it threw me off a little bit. Goes to show you can't expect anything from the haunted, you can only trust them to put out something kick ass. As for the people complaining about going back to the rEVOLVEr days.... go listen to rEVOLVEr. I'd much rather listen to a fresh and inspired the haunted than have them rehash their "best" album over and over again.

 

[Fredrik-Ablaze]

for me Moronic Colossus was like running head first into a wall, I like the album!

 

[TheDude]

I don't know any details about the recording that haven't already been talked about but I will say this. I am a huge the haunted fan and when I first downloaded this CD I was a bit disappointed.

But since you like it now, you're buying the album, right?

 

[Sinister Mephisto]

He might have downloaded it legally.

 

[006]

I'm a pretty big Haunted fan myself, have been since I randomly purchased their self-titled in the local metal shop back in late 1998 not having ever heard of them before, thinking the album art looked cool enough I figured "why not?" I have been hooked ever since. I have a thread where I stated I was disappointed in the track they put on their MySpace before the album came out. I was worried that the rest of the new album would be along the same lines, but was hoping that it was just that one track. When I finally got the CD in it's entirety, though, I was initially put off by it. But now, after quite a few listens, I actually really enjoy it. The first half the CD is probably the best material on it, I must admit as far as my preference goes. Tracks 3, 4 and 5 are my favorites so far and the first 2 aren't all that bad either. Everything past that didn't really make a good impression on me. Almost as if the second half of the album were an afterthought. The production is good, although can be a bit fatiguing at times as it has a similar hi-fi quality to it a la Meshuggah's Obzen, rather than the well-rounded or even mid-heavy mixes I'm use to from their releases. This album is a grower for sure, the first half has already grown on me. I don't think I'll ever get use to the second half though...

~006

 

[FarBeyondMetal]

Yes for the record I downloaded it illegally but I also have a special edition on pre-order so get off my case

 

[Mendel]

Am a massive Haunted (avec Dolving) fan but this one hasn't rattled my nads yet, unlike Revolver and Dead Eye. The vibe is cool, but the writing isn't up to their usual high standards IMO. I know Dolving had some throat problems during recording.

Will have to give it a couple more spins and see if it's a "grower".....

I don´t fully agree. The writing is at pretty high standards but we miss the thrashing from the band. The in-the-face-punch-because-we-are-haunting-you like One kill wonder or revolver. Constant thrash is what i miss but you have to know, how long are they doing thrash adding the years of at the gates ?

I can imagine they want to try something a bit different, didnt destruction do something like that now ? a bit different.

But don't get me wrong, i do want to harmonic minor swedish thrash back

And about the mix.....It's good but nothing tops Revolver.

 

[Meisterjäger]

Best part of the album? Few lines in Iron Mask, my favourites being

"When I give up on you, it's not me being callous. Send me a letter, tell me how it's goin, just stay the fuck away from me"

Awesome!

 

[Sinister Mephisto]

Just bought this album today. Love the bass sound! Looks like they used a RE20 and an 441 on the cab. Anyone know what distortion it was? RAT maybe?

 

[Fredrik-Ablaze]

Just bought this album today. Love the bass sound! Looks like they used a RE20 and an 441 on the cab. Anyone know what distortion it was? RAT maybe?

If he used his stagerig as he said then it's a Rat pedal

 

[Proggm]

Is it me or the drums are a little buried? Maybe that ‘dry’ sound can’t cut very well thru the mix.

 

[egan.]

I thought the production was a little weird at first but by the 3rd song I was digging it. There are so moments I don't like but overall I think it's a good record.