Heh...I KNOW what Track Rat was thinking when reading this thread. Probably the same exact thing I was thinking. I will not share EXACTLY what I was thinking though....but will hint around.
Indeed, the performance IS the key. Metal bands tend to be problematic on many fronts. I find a lot of "we want this sound", but they come in usually with sounds not even close, and more times than not, they are nowhere as tight in their performances as the band they want to sound like.
A few keys to getting that "togehter sound".
1 - Your drummer needs to be a freakin' machine!!! He HAS to hit consistently. None of this "the snare disappears in this part" shit. He has to hit the same nearly every time, unless playing softer fits in context with the dynamics of the music. I have found few drummers in metal bands, and for that matter, many other styles of music that hit really consistent, UNLESS, they have a LOT of studio experience, and realized at some point that the crappy drum sounds were more a result of what THEY were doing, not that "crappy f*cking engineer".
2 - The drums need to be tuned to sound great! Only alternative after that is triggering the drums. You must also spend a considerable amount of time micing the drums to get just the right sound. Many metal type drummers come in with very badly tuned drum kits. Generally, thinner heads provide the type of sound these guys want, but, they wear out really fast, and most drummers don't want to invest in new heads all the time, so they purchase heads that DON'T provide the type of sound they desire, but are more durable. There is really no way around it. Something like Ambassador Clear's top and bottom provide excellent attack and killer sustain on a drum kit when tuned properly. But they just wont' last that long. When I watched the making of the Black album by Mettalica, they were replacing all the drums heads after every 4 or 5 takes, because the head would only last that long with the sound they wanted. Can you imagine the expense of that? But, that is virtually what is going to need to happen. I recorded a funk band many years ago, and while we didn't replace the heads every 4 or 5 takes, we replaced them after every day of drum tracking (5 set's of heads!!!) It was very expensive for a local bands budget, but the co-producer and I agreed it was worth the expense to get "that drum sound".
3 - Too many times in metal bands, the bass player is very inconsistent in their picking. This is seldomly noticed in rehearsals because usually, the guitars have so much low end eq that you never truely hear the bass. Once in the studio, well, there is no hiding it.
Also, too many times, the bass player has a setup that doesn't give the "driving" type of tone that you might hear on a Pantera CD. Again, this get's expensive to fix. The right bass with the right pickups, and a preamp/speaker combo that is right for the sound can set the bass player back right around $4000!
4 - Too often, the guitar players are nowhere as tight as they "think" they are. Usually, these metal guys have extremely low action on their guitar, and have a tone that is "scooped out" in the midrange. Indeed, at low volumes when praticing at home, this type of setup makes the guitar sound pretty close to what they hear on a CD, but it never translates to a recording very well. The low action on the instrument usually tells me that the guy isn't a very strong picker. This type of player generally has no midrange in their tone, and the preamp gain is totally over saturated. None of these things contributes to a good guitar sound.
A few times, I have been able to get the guitar players to play with a more appropriate tone. Guess what happens though? Once you get that guitar tone right, the player has a VERY hard time playing cleanly!!! Guess what? They have been hiding their weak picking behind that scooped out mid/oversaturated guitar tone the whole time! Guess what? They HAVE to make the adjustment to the new tone.
5 - Metal singers almost always come into the studio and sing flat! They also tend to be overly dynamic. I think this usually has to do with the fact that metal bands tend to play VERY loud, and the singer has to scream to hear themselves at rehearsals because they usually have very poor PA systems to practice with. The tuning is somewhat curable I suppose with AutoTune...
The over dynamics can sometimes be overcome by tracking 2,3, sometimes 4 different vocals tracks broken up into how loud he sings. This usually has it's own set of problems. Tonally speaking, things are going to get a little messy.
I don't hate metal bands. Really I don't. I am an old head banger of old myself. I have been in music for 20 years now. I have played in bands that suffer from all of the above, or at least a few of the above. So, I am just telling it like it is. These observations are based upon my many years of experience.
It is funny that many metal bands play WAY over their heads. Most of the drummers can't play to a click track, yet, they try to pull off double kick drumming that is incredibly hard to do. They usually only practice when the band pratices when that type of drumming requires at least a couple hours a day of solo practicing! I have had the fortune to mix and talk to at length Dean Castronova (Wild Dog's (Shrapnel records)...played with Bad English, Hardline, and recorded the Ozmosis album for Ozzy, and was touring with Journey). He is considered one of the best metal drummers in the world!!! This guy is simply incredible. Last time I talked to him, New Years Eve two years ago, I asked him how much he practices these days. He told me he HAS to practice at least a couple hours a day by himself with a click track to keep his chops up!!! I first saw this guy play 20 years ago, and he was incredible then, and he STILL practices every day!
Sorry to say, but most metal bands are in complete denial about how well they play and sound just in rehearsal. If you are SERIOUS about becoming better, then you cannot pull punches. EVERY member of the band has to strive to always get better. It is time consuming and expensive to do. The good news is that usually with these types of bands, if they DO make the sacrifice, they usually attract a lot of fans, and at least small label interest. In metal, it is usually as simple as raising the quality of the playing and the sound over the rest of the wannabe bands that get them noticed. Without fail, the local bands around here that have made the "jump" have been rewarded quite nicely. Without fail, all of these bands will divulge that at one point, they were not being honest with themselves about how they sounded, and only got this good by dedicating themselves to doing whatever it took to get better, meaning a LOT of practicing, and sizable investments into appropriate gear that is capable of delivering the sound the need.
There! I have shared the things that many in the business think, but seldomly will share straight up like that. You can say "sonusman, you are full of shit" all you want, but the fact is, I am not full of shit on this, on most people in this genre know it, they just don't want to admit it. "That sound" is very possible for any band. But, most bands are not prepared to do what it takes to get that sound. The ones that do never regret it.
Ed
