Dark Metal

A

arsenaultk9

New member
Hails from Canada,

I've made this dark metal(to avoid going into the subgenre of black, none korean, depressive bla bla bla type of metal) and I would really appreciate a different perspective on my mix. To me, everything sounds pretty much the way I want so it's time to hear about other people's opinion.

The mix is not a very standard rock commercial type of mix (which is what's desired) and the vocals are pretty harsh for people not used to the black metal or death metal genre.
Hope you enjoy


https://soundcloud.com/wendess/sans-raison


Edit 1

I listen to your comments guys and I've remaid a mix following your suggestions. I'd have to say I'm pretty happy most of your comments were right. I've lowered the rythm guitars, augmented bass, done a tone of shits on drums (it's not easy trying to put midi drums up front with recorded instruments) and slightly augmented the vocals and lead guitar track. Here's how it sound now:
https://soundcloud.com/wendess/sans-raisonmix2

Hope this sounds better to your ears.

Edit 2
Mix version 3: https://soundcloud.com/wendess/sans-raison-mix3
 
Last edited:
I thought the spoken stuff at the beginning was cool. Not sure why the rain sample was there, but maybe I'm missing it. Maybe it's all part of the same thing. The rain sample at the beginning starts a little abruptly.

Generally well performed.

The first thing that strikes me is the mix is almost entirely guitar. The rhythm guitar is covering everything - drums, vocal, lead guitar. I wasn't a fan of the guitar tone.

The mix could use a stronger low end. Not hearing much from the bass.

The reverb you're using is kind of making things sloppy sounding.

I suspect the drums are fairly decent sounding, but they're tough to hear. Toms are kind of wide though.

Piano at the end sounded nice.
 
Listening on headphones so take that for what it's worth but I agree with Triple. To me most of what I got was just guitar. Can't really add much else until I could hear it better (could be mix, could be crappy headphones)
 
Sorry guys to bother but can anyone confirm my suspision on the second mix. After listening to it an a range of systems the bass guitars seems too loud?
 
Listening to the 2nd mix.

Drums are still pretty buried. Everything's still pretty washed out in reverb, especially the drums. I suspect that when you see them in your DAW, they're very "loud", but there's so much 'verb that they don't cut through the mix?
The bass is actually at a decent level. The bass tone feel's a little bland for the style, but I can hear it clearly enough.

edit:
Just got to the piano breakdown. That's a really good contrast there

---------- Update ----------

Listening to the 2nd mix.

Drums are still pretty buried. Everything's still pretty washed out in reverb, especially the drums. I suspect that when you see them in your DAW, they're very "loud", but there's so much 'verb that they don't cut through the mix?
The bass is actually at a decent level. The bass tone feel's a little bland for the style, but I can hear it clearly enough.

edit:
Just got to the piano breakdown. That's a really good contrast there
 
Yeah just get it balanced out better. Make sure you can hear everything. You don't just want loud guitars and vocals. Make sure you can hear everything clearly and it fits together. Other than that I think people who like this type of music, will like it as is once it's mixed together properly.
 
I agree with pretty much everything VHS said about mix #2 (both times :)). The only thing I would slightly differ on is I think the bass could be nudged up. But that's down to personal taste I think. Can you get rid of the reverb? It'd probably be helpful at this point to hear what things sound like underneath it all.
 
I've applied your comments (didn't event realised I had reverb on the whole drums instead of just snare) and I'm pretty happy to what it does to track. I still think bass is too loud and vocals are probably lacking a bit, but I guess it's just me too used to the old mix where guitars and vocals where very loud.
 
Third mix does sound like an improvement. Drums are still pretty muddy and dark, but you can make out the kick now.

This is probably one of those weird exceptions where you don't want the vocals sticking out too much. Usually, you want a lot of vox because they're what drives the melody, but that's not really the case with this song.
 
Yeah I agree that mix #3 is another improvement. A lot less reverb getting in the way. I'd still back off a bit more from the snare.

I also think the guitars are still a bit loud. They're definitely covering the vocal too much and they're also a little too loud relative to the drums (or at least the snare).

I'd still give the bass a very small boost.

I'd dry up the vocal a little bit too.
 
Well the thing is you don't want the vocals to be too loud. You want them to blend into the music better, yet stick out just a little. Just enough for them to be the focal point without being over bearing. I think the guitars could come down a bit 1 or 2 db and that would make room your vocals to sit better. Just experiment and do what you think sounds good. Just don't expect everyone to feel the same way as you do. Compare it to your best sounding favorite albums and try to get that sound.

Try taking the reverb off the vocals and using delay instead.
 
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