Your 3 favorite Metal productions of all time!

[Force666]

Isn't part of "production" capturing the songs in a way that moves the listener?

Like to me for example. The Black Album....a stellar recording of huge turd. Sure, it's a shining recording, but the overall "production" to me was lame. It changed Metallica into something that I didn't like anymore.

Now let's move back to ...AJFA. Not the greatest recording for sure. But, the production I think personally is awesome. It captured a vibe to me. It's a "funeral music" mix to me and I love it.

There's more to a production than the recording itself.

 

[stargazer7]

Black Sabbath - Heaven & Hell
Black Sabbath - Headless Cross
Black Sabbath - Cross Purposes

 

[D.Vial]

1. Arch enemy - Doomsday machine (everything cuts so naturally here)
2. Megadeth - Rust in peace
3. Testament - The formation of damnation
4. Megadeth - Endgame
5. Carcass - Heartwork

 

[Star Ark]

1 Tool Aenima

2 Metallica Black Album

3 OSI Blood

 

[guitarguru777]

I always thought Operation Mindcrime sounded pretty sweet

Probably one of the best snare sounds ever put on tape Its got that great SHOTGUN pop to it.

 

[Plasmaterial]

Mercenary - The Hours That Remain/Architect of Lies
Meshuggah - Chaosphere
Wintersun - S/T

 

[AllanD]

Nevermore - Dead Heart In a Dead World
In Flames - The Jester Race
Children Of Bodom - Follow The Reaper

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

In Flames - The Jester Race
Children Of Bodom - Follow The Reaper

Musically these are in my all-time top-10 faves, but production-wise?

 

[AllanD]

Musically these are in my all-time top-10 faves, but production-wise?

You crazy? Jester Race has on of my favorite guitar tone ever, same with Follow The Reaper, so much mids!

 

[Dylan S]

I can agree with Follow the Reaper...I LOVE how that sounds.

Not so big on Jester though, except that lead tone in December Flower. My GOD it is delicious.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Yeah, TJR's rhythm tone is too old-school Swedish death for me I guess (but +1 for the lead tone ) and FtR is aggressive but like so many Tagtgren mixes from that era just a bit too harsh of a mix overall I feel (IMO their best production by far was "Are You Dead Yet?", both in terms of the overall mix and individual drum/bass/guitar tones IMO) To be clear though, it's not like either of them really bother me, I still think they're definitely both solid productions!

 

[Ermz]

Hmmm, I've seen you talk about it now for a while and I guess its just me, but I think Stabbing the Drama sounds absolutely terrible! Perhaps I'm missing something.

Perhaps not. The individual elements on that record aren't anything special. As single entities, the drums are definitely not among my faves, nor are the guitars, vocals, or anything else. Maybe the bass, maybe.

The real magic is in how it all comes together. As a cohesive unit, this mix is the most technically 'perfect' thing I've ever heard in the metal genre. Nothing else even seems to touch it. The separation is supreme, the low-end always tight, and somehow seems to be room for ambiance in the back as well. Not only this, but the use of the full range of the spectrum leaves most everything else in the dust. To me this mix is the realization of the adage 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts', and crystalizes the benefit of such thought. That's why it's my supreme reference, above all others, even though on many levels I do not actually like it.

I think we just have different ways of thinking about production. You for instance seem really fond of 'White Pony' from what I've read, but I struggle to find anything redeemable about that record. That aside, we both seem to dig the aesthetics of each others' work. So maybe just a different means of thought to a similar end?

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

It's the separation on StD that really blows me away, and as a result, I can't think of any other album where the stereo image is so wide and perfectly defined And of course the bass, even if the best of it is apparently below what my monitors can produce

 

[AllanD]

Yeah, TJR's rhythm tone is too old-school Swedish death for me I guess (but +1 for the lead tone ) and FtR is aggressive but like so many Tagtgren mixes from that era just a bit too harsh of a mix overall I feel (IMO their best production by far was "Are You Dead Yet?", both in terms of the overall mix and individual drum/bass/guitar tones IMO) To be clear though, it's not like either of them really bother me, I still think they're definitely both solid productions!

We'll just agree to disagree


I'm sure SOMEWHERE somebody thinks that Transylvanian Hunger has the best production ever

 

[OrdinanceGuitar]

1. Soilwork - Stabbing the Drama
2. Gojira - The Way of All Flesh
3. In Flames - Clayman

+1

 

[Fox Mulder]

Metallica - Black Album
System Of A Down - Toxicity
Disturbed - Disturbed

 

[SickBoy]

Yes! Guuuuys, we´re talking about productions here!!! Although production and mixing is art and causes different tastes. Nevertheless I hate the sound of "operation mindcrime" and I LOVE the songs on this album...the SONGS!

I'll join those in support of this album's sound... It's totally suited to the music and I really can't get a grasp of the comments along the lines "twas fine for 20 years ago", cause I think most modern recordings don't come close to it. It definitely carries the sign o' the times - it's very distinct and has a personality. With today's sample replacement and reamping (over)use there's less and less room to achieve that I suppose...

Black Sabbath - Headless Cross
Black Sabbath - Cross Purposes

How could I... forget these two?!
But then again I could've go on and on with my list...
For example, today I'm totally in the mood for Helloween's "The Time Of The Oath" sound

 

[Harry Hughes]

1. Soilwork - Stabbing the Drama
2. Gojira - The Way of All Flesh
3. In Flames - Clayman

Great list.

Swap Stabbing the Drama with The Way of All Flesh and you have my list.
Stabbing the Drama is EXTREMELY good, no doubt, but to me The Way of All Flesh just has the edge.
STD has this slight fatiguing edge to the sound, whereas TWOAF doesn't seem to suffer from that and sounds "smoother" (for a lack of a better descriptive word). I'm leaning towards the the differences in the upper mids of the guitars making the difference there.
To my ears the bass guitar blends better in the mix on TWOAF too, although the difference between that and STD is not significant.

I notice a lot of guys here are going for some older productions, maybe out of nostalgia or for whatever reason, but I'm inclined to agree with you Ermz, that using productions with such a high level of technical perfection are a better way to go than say, the Black Album or Jester's Race.
Don't get me wrong guys, I think TJR is musically the best from In Flames, but I just don't think the bass guitar blends into the guitars and the rest of the mix as well as it does on Clayman, and the guitars are kinda lacking in meat and today's top production generally don't feature such bright sounding guitars either

 

[Harry Hughes]

Not so much productions as a whole, but being a guitarist, here's my top 3 for guitar tone references. While these are maybe somewhat at the expense of the most technically perfect mix, they are definitely good enough to be pro productions

1. Between the Buried and Me - Colors
2. Killswitch Engage - End of Heartache
3. Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory

All of these feature very meaty guitars with plenty of gain and saturation (although Linkin Park a little less so than the other two)

I notice that stuff like Cowboys from Hell and ...And Justice for all are so lacking in meat that they leave a hole in the frequency spectrum of the mix and they have so much disgusting fizz in the treble (especially from 6KHz upwards) which sounds harsh to my ears and also has the negative impact of interfering with the ability to hear the cymbals as clearly as possible.

Colors, Heartache, and Hybrid Theory have good lower mids and core mids, and they are plenty bright in the upper mids, but nicely controlled around the treble so they don't sound harsh and it also has the benefit of giving the listener a perceived sense of a thicker, meatier tone too.
I always love using these 3 albums as a reference point for being able to control my treble and getting the upper mids right, as well as being great references for just making sure you get a meaty guitar tone that really fills the mix well

 

[Felix Neumann]

1. Arch enemy - Doomsday machine (everything cuts so naturally here)

I'm sure SOMEWHERE somebody thinks that Transylvanian Hunger has the best production ever