Death Metal track

amra

Well-known member
Anyone feel like giving me some feedback on this Deathmetal track?

I recorded it for a local band, so this is not my stuff or me playing . Not crazy about their performance on here, but hey it was a another opporunity to hone my skills (or lack thereof)...

Mainly looking for feeback on the mix, etc.
"The Briefcase Murder"

Thanks!
A.
 
for this genre, everything sounds too much like it has a veil over it or something. the vocals are by far the worst in this respect, it sounds very muffled. but everything needs a bit sharper tone cause it should be in your face.. otherwise the recording all seems well done, so it is just minor beefs with the way you EQ'd it (or more likely, didn't)

I do agree about the band being teh suck, though.
 
Seems cool to me. It's quite harsh, but I guess that is a characteristic of the music. The only beef I have is that the vocals are lacking a bit of 'definition' and the difference in sound between the hi-hat and the other percussion instruments is really noticable. In fact at the third hit of the hi hat on the intro I can audibly hear where the EQing/effects kick in.

Also the snare, for me, is totally lost behind everything-- The vocals, the crashes and especially the hats.

Other than that, I rather like it. I think the band have definite promise, they just need to tighten up a bit.
 
The instrumental parts sound OK to me. Even given the vocal style, the vocal though needs more clarity. Sounds like the singer was cupping his hands around the mike capsule.
 
I don't care for how the vox sound. They sound boxy compared to the music. I know how they should roughly sound, but these are odd....they don't mesh well with the music. They are almost too bright. Maybe dull them with some eq, or something. They ride on top of the music a bit, and seem from a different environment. The music itself is good...mesh the vox with that, and it's all good.
 
okay I obviously concerning myself with ethnomusicology and somehow discussing elvis in humanities class instead of jumping on this post sooner.

I like the instrumental stuff its all good, something I would personally do isplay with the (post) eq in the guitar mix so they bite a little harder - basically around as hard as the drums do... I feel like that would make them more tangible instead of just a "feeling" behind those drums.

everyone said it, but the vocals are boxy, too much for the music. if you -didn't- eq them particularly, search for that one frequency that makes them that way and cut it down a few db (hopefully you have access to a parametric or something that allows you to play with the Q a lot) I sometimes look for i by boosting it and moving it to where it enhances that sound, then cutting at that point (reversing that boost) a little high "air" end wouldn't hurt it I don't suppose. << basically this music reminds me a little of black dahlia with more gutteral vocals, but you'll notice they don't intentionally skew the way they sound just to make it more raw. they still sound real and conducive to the rest.

and is it just me or did the song cut off super abruptly at the end...??
 
Thanks as always, for the contructive feedback. It is much appreciated.

This band's sound is somewhere like Cannibal Corpse, Deicide or Morbid Angel with just a little twist of modern metalcore. So I tried for that kind of sound.

I uploaded a couple of clips to kind of show you the sound we were going for, so before you check out the tweaked version. Here are some clips for reference (my revised mix is below):

Deicide - 'Dead by Dawn' (clip)

Cannibal Corpse -Skull full of Maggots (clip)

And here is the revised version of my mix:



A.
 
Last edited:
amra said:
Thanks as always, for the contructive feedback. It is much appreciated.

This band's sound is somewhere like Cannibal Corpse, Deicide or Morbid Angel with just a little twist of modern metalcore. So I tried for that kind of sound.

I uploaded a couple of clips to kind of show you the sound we were going for, so before you check out the tweaked version. Here are some clips for reference (my revised mix is below):

Deicide - 'Dead by Dawn' (clip)

Cannibal Corpse -Skull full of Maggots (clip)

And here is the revised version of my mix:



A.
I think this tweaked version sounds better....there is still a few vocals that sound like they are recorded with him using cupped hands....maybe he did. Some of the vox seem to sit better now, and have a more natural sound in comparison to the music. It does sound pretty close to Diecide at times....pretty good there.

The Cannibal Corpse link is the same as the Dicide one. :D

I think you are getting it nailed down though. It was a more cohesive song.
 
Thanks for the heads up, I fixed the link in my original post....
I think he did cup his hands over the mic. I was using a SM57 on vox to kinda get that 'rolled off' high type sound those death metal bands used to have, and he had his other hand kind of covering it, right up in his face with it.

All I know, is that no amount of EQing on the vocal track really changes that somehwat muffled/hollow sound it has. I think that is pretty much as good as that vocal track is gonna get. Other than that, it is retrack...
 
No bassplayer?..

the guitars also seem a bit down, if the bass is missing, the guits really need to be kicking.
it's a clear mix but vocals and drums are a tad dominant.
 
I appreciate the creativity in mic use for the vocals... but I seriousely think you could find a sweet spot to make the vocals sit better.. but I dunno its definitely improved from the last time. The Snare could probly use it's own sweet spot too to make it a little less "poofy."
 
The mix sounds well balanced in the new version. It's fuller sounding and there's more dynamic contrast compared to the first mix, or so it seems. The vocal has more body to it, but it still sounds muffled, like there's a blanet over the mike.

I'd retrack the vox, but the vocalist needs some mike technique conditioning, heh-heh ...maybe wire up a non-lethal elec charge (thinking car battery) attached to the mike stand so the singer gets a jolt every time he tries to cup his hands over the mike capsule. :eek:

Naw, don't do anything inhumane like that. ;)

EDIT: On second listen the vocal sounds pretty good to me. It's a little muffled but it still sounds good in its place in the mix.
 
i'm with others about the vocals not sounding quite right...besides that sort of boxy quality, it seems like the vocals are sitting on top of the mix, rather than IN it

i think the toms sounded pretty poopy too, but that's a damn near moot point because the guy only touched them once in the song that i could tell

the song itself isn't too bad i guess...not totally suck, but nothing mind-boggling either...seems like the drummer needs to work on his technique some more - he laid on the double kick a LOT, but then played simple-ass shit snare/cymbal-wise...not terrible drumming by any means, but not the technical craziness that a lot of death metal drummers try to achieve
 
I'm not very familiar with this genre, but I will say the mix is pretty even and the panning allows everything to be heard clearly. The kick is really clear and thumping, one of the best I've heard. Sounds good..... :cool:
 
You can almost see the guy in your mind cupping that 57...

I guess everything sounds somewhat appropriate for this genre. Although I would figure the snare would have more of a crack than a pfft kind of noise to it for this genre. Even a twang like a piccalo snare. The guitars could maybe be a tad louder, or the drums and vox a tad lower...
 
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