Critique death metal song?

[nick.p]

Hello, I made this mix for my band. For now, it's just an instrumental. I would very much like your input on its quality! The only piece of gear we had for guitars was a Digitech RP90 pedal, and the drums are arranged by MIDI with samples I gathered from various sources. It was all done in Reaper, and it is my 3rd project I've done digitally. Considering this was done on a near-zero budget, how's it sound? I was going for a djent guitar tone, are there any tips on getting more of that metallic sound? Also, any tips for making snare rolls more realistic?

 

[Meatballx]

I can hear a substantial amount of phasing during the song, especially when the kick is syncopated with your chugs. However, Im by no means anything more than a beginner myself, and from what Ive found that little wabble sound Im hearing is either from phasing or over-compression.

 

[nick.p]

I definitely heard it, especially in a later part of the song. I haven't made use of any compressors yet, so I'm not sure what to do besides make the mix quieter to prevent the guitars from ducking.

 

[ido1957]

Sounds good for a 3rd mix - way better than mine was lol.... Good playing too...

 

[Loro]

The punch of the snare is basically covered by the guitar. I would use a different snare in this case as it feels like it does not fit with the rest of the drums.

Anyway, it is a really good work

 

[prog-man]

Are you using a limiter on the master fader? ....it seems the entire mix is being squashed heavily (noticeably distorting).......notice the volume increase of the lead guitar lick at around 37-38 seconds when the other parts go quiet.....it jumps up in volume.......did you do this through volume automation? If not, then the issue seems to be related to compression/limiting......if you haven't used any compression or limiting on the master fader, it sounds like the issue just might be a clipping problem........maybe you left no headroom on the master fader and it's clipping? If so, make sure you're recording at the proper levels and not too hot (-18dBFS - -6dBFS)....i know that seems low, but that's the safest way to do it and would be considered "Best Practice". ....i generally stay around -10dBFS when i record each audio track. .......i like to have the master fader peaking at -3dBFS when i'm done recording everything.......then apply a limiter on the master fader to bring the volume up to commercial levels.