Trying to establish tones for this recording! Fast thrashy metal!

[statzern]

Hey guys. So, this is part of a tune I wrote about 10 years ago - when I was 17. My friend and I resurrected this song for an EP we hope to have done sometime next year. We are both extremely busy, and so can only work on things in short bursts.

Anyway, this is a little something I cooked up last night. I would like advice on the overall mix. How can I get this to sound more "glued" together? The kick is way too "dry" - it's a sample, but it just sounds super obvious that it's not real. Also, we had issues with the overheads, and I feel like I can never get them to sound very wide without some crazy phasing issues.

I know the playing is kinda sloppy - I was just trying to get something down. Guitar tones are my *new* POD HD 400, using no cab sim (yet). I think the guitars sounded great on their own - a little tinny in the mix. Opinions? Which direction would you take this??

Thanks for any advice in advance!!!
[SOUNDCLOUD]http://soundcloud.com/statzern/ultimate-metal-halloclip/s-7ACwi[/SOUNDCLOUD]

 

[statzern]

Bumpskis....

Ok I'll give a bit of my own opinion - maybe some people can comment as to whether they agree or not. I was trying to go for a huge room sound for the drums. Kinda like Baroness' Blue Record. I think I got that going at least a little bit, but there is room for improvement. The elements of the mix need to be more "consistent." in other words, sometimes the snare stands out super obvious, others the transient seems lost.

The guitars are hard to "understand." in the beginning, the rhythm is very clear and it's easy to pick out each note. Toward the end, the straight sixteenth note stuff is much less easy to hear. I realize this is partly playing, but I think a lot of it has to do with the gain being too high at the preamp section. But I have a hard time getting real thick pinch harmonics to sing with the gain way down. Any POD 400 or just general POD HD users care to comment??

Thanks all!

 

[metalhead3ecr]

musically...I like it! Guitars are a bit thin like you said. But the playing almost makes up for that.And you are right...bass drum needs some work!

 

[statzern]

Thanks for replying! I've been working on thickening up the tone. I've got a lot of cabinet impulses at my disposal - I just haven't had time to sit in front of my computer long enough to mess with it again.

Any thoughts on drum tone other than the kick? The room verb isn't too cheesy is it? I was going for that "big studio" room sound... Which is funny because the drums were recorded with like 7 foot ceilings hahah!