What is different between these productions?

[Melodeath]

I'm currently working on my band's album, which involved two recording sessions, spaced 6 months apart. I'm having trouble getting the old songs sounding like the new ones.

Could you listen to a sample of a recent song versus an old song and point out how they differ in sound/production? I'm not looking for differences in composition or riffs, or vocal style or whatever, just actual overall tone difference. I want all the songs on the album to have a coherent production despite the spaced out recording sessions

Old sample: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1579861/Horrendous - Reanimated sample.mp3

New sample: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1579861/Horrendous - Fatal Dreams sample.mp3

All the preamps and converters I used changed between sessions because I got a new audio interface. Also, the newer session involved reamping as opposed to tracking directly from the amps. Also, mic placement inherently must have changed a bit, but I placed everything according to my pictures so they should be close. Amp settings should have also been the same. All plugin settings are pretty much matched.

What do you hear as different between the tracks?

Thanks

 

[PhilR]

The first track seems to have a, I dunno, very squeezed feel to it. The second whilst very similar sonically doesn't make my head tense up so much if you get me haha.

Either way, they're both so similar nobody that wasn't in the know will likely notice. Just listen to a lot of older albums, many songs sound very different from one to the next because a lot of the time they were recorded in separate sessions.

 

[Melodeath]

Thanks for the comment. I don't know what could be causing the more squeezed/compressed sound. I have a compressor on the master buss, but it's not doing any more gain reduction than the new track.

 

[Fragle]

not listening on my monitors, but they sound quite close to each other...the new one seems to have higher fidelity in the highend, especially on guitars and vocals.

 

[Melodeath]

The second one definitely sounds better. It's more clear and natural. I don't know why though, unless the pres and converters in the Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 are really that much better than those in the Alesis io26. Maybe I just got lucky, or skills improved slightly.