What do you see as a 'disgrace' to metal music? Why?

[Phylactery]

You make a good point about production being contextual a lot of the time. Having said that, I don’t want overlypolished and mechanical production on any metal really. There’s a difference between crystal clear and overproduction - the latter is never a good thing imo and makes things sound too lifeless and sterile.

 

[arg]

crystal clear EQUALS overproduction to “your people” according to how you all rate and comment in the mixtapes lol. what if modern guitars and technology really do sound good and clean without doing much to them? should we deliberately add some fuzz to make them sound like shit? toss and kick the drums around so they sound like garbage cans?

 

[Omni]

How bout modern prog death?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ovzRpdxRj0Q

http://youtube.com/watch?v=UgUn4EKLMnU

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cPypRw7yvVQ

bet you, omni, phyl and other incrowders don’t like that either (they sound fucking awesome to me tho). you hate everything that sounds new, and only like new things if they sound old with shit production! the in-crowd is the disgrace to metal, luckily new genres and new fans are keeping it alive!

What qualities of the production on these songs are supposed to be good?

There's basically no point in having such a glossy production if you're going to mix music like an amateur who doesn't even know what dynamic range is. Everything is too loud to the point that it's terribly brickwalled. The Beyond Creation is the worst, but the others are also pretty bad.

 

[no country for old wainds]

i don't think any type of production is inherently bad aside from that which is physically painful to listen to, although some don't tend to suit certain genres. but yeah, 'crystal clear' tends to be a good thing, it's the lack of weight/texture/personality in a lot of modern production that's the problem. it's the same issue people have with watery CGI, it obstructs immersion when what you're watching is so obviously artificially created.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

The Beyond Creation and Ne Obliviscaris tracks kicked ass, the other one was okay. They sound just how modern tech death is supposed to sound. It's not supposed to sound like it was recorded in some dungeon.

edit: @arg You should have posted some Obscura or Gorod or something.

 

[arg]

i don’t even think much about production tbh. if my ears are pleased it’s good for me. BAD production puts me off easily.

What qualities of the production on these songs are supposed to be good?

There's basically no point in having such a glossy production if you're going to mix music like an amateur who doesn't even know what dynamic range is. Everything is too loud to the point that it's terribly brickwalled. The Beyond Creation is the worst, but the others are also pretty bad.

if we added some fuzz to those songs, adjusted some volumes and fixed the “dynamic range”, would you like them for the songwriting/composition?

 

[Omni]

Modern tech death is supposed to have basically essentially no dynamics and be so loudly that the audio clips or becomes washed out? What a terrible idea.

Again, the idea of making something so glossy but mixing it in a way that makes the music lack clarity and dynamics seems misguided.

 

[Nate Skalman]

What I see as a personal disgrace is overly critical genre-snobs who don't play an instrument, or have never played live/toured themselves...it's hard work. Industry-wise, people who don't put any money back into the scene by not going to shows and buying merch/albums are what's keeping bigger money out of the scene...also, computers are the holy grail future of recording, but the killer of album sales -lots to factors...

 

[Omni]

if we added some fuzz to those songs, adjusted some volumes and fixed the “dynamic range”, would you like them for the songwriting/composition?

This is probably unintentional, but you've posted a strawman that has nothing to do with how mixing music in a way that gives dynamic sound works. I genuinely believe that you think that you're replying to what I said, but you really aren't.

 

[CiG]

Problem I have with arg's worldview is that he seems unwilling to accept that not all albums would benefit from the production jobs on those links he shared and none of the so-called in-crowd by contrast would claim that those links he shared would benefit from a more raw production.

He thinks the in-crowd are the narrow-minded ones whereas he's the one that seems to think all metal albums should be produced to his standards.

I fully accept that technical death metal (and other genres) shouldn't be recorded in a dungeon. It's contextual.

 

[Nate Skalman]

Bands who sound promising in the studio and then sound like shit live for whatever reason...

 

[arg]

hey i can overlook mediocre, somewhat muddy (but not complete shit) production if the riffs, vocals and composition are great. heck i'll only deduct 1 or 2 points in a mixtape. inversely, can you overlook "overproduction" if the riffs, vocals and composition are great?

 

[Omni]

If a song is to my liking, I absolutely could. Unfortunately, I'm not particularly interested in the music that you posted.

I like a lot of music with varying production levels, including things without a very dynamic sound. I just don't enjoy when music is obviously produced in a modern, high-end studio but the mix is so bad that it defeats the purpose of doing such a thing.

 

[Mort Divine]

problem is the riffs, vocals, and composition in most modern tech death isn't great usually

modern tech death is certainly not on the level of atheist, demilich, gorguts, etc. when it comes to that

 

[Nate Skalman]

Using Fractal, BIAS, ElevenRack and Kemper for all guitar track recording and using cab impulses forces lots of post-production (Axe Edit etc.) along with a "more mids, less gain" fad...It's nice gear but it puts a digital sounding sonic stamp on the final product, and with the bandwaggoning, guitarists using them started using Andy Sneap style "hard-panning" editing on recordings making it sound a little processed and sterile for thrash, doom, stoner styles...my ears like mic'ing the cab and cutting raw tracks. It cuts down on "tone-polishing" for individual tracks and sounds more open and throaty. I'm not knocking modeling tho...just a cause of the "polished" sound...?

 

[Satanstoenail]

Noise gate metal is so ten years ago

 

[CiG]

hey i can overlook mediocre, somewhat muddy (but not complete shit) production if the riffs, vocals and composition are great. heck i'll only deduct 1 or 2 points in a mixtape. inversely, can you overlook "overproduction" if the riffs, vocals and composition are great?

I don't know anybody who doesn't allow for a few negative qualities on an album that they otherwise like.

 

[Nate Skalman]

Squeeking fingers on the strings and feedback (controlled) is something I like that modern recording is often missing...even on hi-fi stuff. If you have to crank the threshold on your noise gate to control your tone then you probably need to brush up on your playing...djent was a ghost fad

 

[Krow]

Bands who sound promising in the studio and then sound like shit live for whatever reason...

Live music is usually a shittier version of what the band can do in studio anyway.

 

[The Ozzman]

Live music is usually a shittier version of what the band can do in studio anyway.

I would argue it's a purer version of their sound anyway tbh. It is the truest representation of the band.