[Progressive Melodic Death Metal??] Ibsen and Adam song19

[Kerpal]

Me and my friend have been working on this song and I have been pretty satisified with what we've got so far. I just got a bass guitar recently so I have finally gotten a chance to put in some sweet bass lines. Anyways this song is all done pretty much except for some parts that need to be rerecorded, the drum track needs some fine-tuning and I need to add vocals.

I was wondering...
1. How does the bass guitar sound in general? Should I make it louder, or softer?

2. Is the drum track decent at all? If it isn't, how can I make it more interesting?

3. How is the song as a whole? Any parts in particular that you don't like or do like?

And on to the song...

 

[ido1957]

1. How does the bass guitar sound in general? Should I make it louder, or softer?

Seems to be ok volume-wise but if I was a bass player I'd probably say MORE! .

2. Is the drum track decent at all? If it isn't, how can I make it more interesting?

I'm not a drummer so maybe a drummer can give some specific tips on that. That repetitive part on the drums (2:37) seems a little plain. I would try and make that change up a bit. The basic track sounds good - just needs some interesting rolls which just take time to program. The rolls you have are a little stiff sounding.

3. How is the song as a whole? Any parts in particular that you don't like or do like?

I like the arrangement, the mix and the tones on all the instruments. Other than some work on the drums I 'd say this is a really good start. The ending chorus guitar sound is great.

 

[Kronpox]

I liked the melodies in this song. You guys harmonize in some very strange ways sometimes. This is really mellow, it reminds me of Opeth's older music.

If it were me, I'd make the bass tone softer, and with more bottom end.

The key to an interesting drum track is to not be lazy at all about it. Don't just use the same fill every four bars or use the same couple of beats for most parts of the song. Get really technical and detailed.

 

[hueseph]

I hear what Kronpox is getting at with the bass. It's competing a bit w/the guitars. I was going to say however that I would like to hear more definition in the bass. I suppose it could go either way.

Re drums: I'm partial to rhytmically spaced rapid triplet riffs on the double kick as opposed to the ping pong thing.

Re the song: are you satisfied with it? Personally this is the type of tune that you could tweak and add to for eternity. Just hearing those odd harmonies now. Yeah I like that. Cool tune.

 

[Kerpal]

I hear what Kronpox is getting at with the bass. It's competing a bit w/the guitars. I was going to say however that I would like to hear more definition in the bass. I suppose it could go either way.

Re drums: I'm partial to rhytmically spaced rapid triplet riffs on the double kick as opposed to the ping pong thing.

Re the song: are you satisfied with it? Personally this is the type of tune that you could tweak and add to for eternity. Just hearing those odd harmonies now. Yeah I like that. Cool tune.

What do you mean specifically by more definition? Do you mean making it more identifiable in the mix? I was trying to do that by EQing the mids a bit higher than they were. Maybe I did it wrong, or there is a better way? It's just direct recording straight from the bass going into Amplitube's clear and flat preset.

Anyways thanks for the responses so far.

Also, wow everyone that has posted so far is from Canada. Awesome.

 

[Kronpox]

Personally I think that the bass tone has more mids than needs, but isn't pushing the low end enough.

 

[ericlingus]

cool song. Definately sounds like early Opeth to me. I agree what the last person said about the bass but overall I think it sounds pretty good.

 

[CarcPazu]

cool song. Definately sounds like early Opeth to me. I agree what the last person said about the bass but overall I think it sounds pretty good.

Yes I agree, early Opeth (Orchid) kind of feel. I like the song. Personnaly I don't especially like the overall sound. Not in a technical way. In a punchy way. I'm not in love with this kind of distortion sound, maybe not enough overdrive in the rythmic section (especially the right guitar at beginning). But it's possibly your goal to keep this very mellow. So if it's an artistic choice I understand.

And I agree that the bass could use more definition, maybe a bit more tone. I'm no engineer wizard so I can't really tell how to fix it, but I can tell what should be fix.

The drum is pretty much a tad boring for metal. So simple parts are greats but now the overall drums is way to simple.

But hey, all this is mainly a matter of personnal taste.

If you change something post again, see how this song evolve.

I'll check out what you got to offer in the future.

 

[Wireneck]

Pretty cool stuff. Im a big fan of the earlier Opeth Stuff. This reminds me alot of it, maybe even some of "the gallery" era Dark Tranquillity.
The bass sounds like it needs more mids to poke through those guitars. Try a boost somewhere in the 800-1200hz area. Sometimes it helps to hi-pass around 40-50hz in this style as well.
The drums could use some more variation just to keep it interesting. The sounds aren't bad, just repetitive.
I think the less distorted guitar tones really work well too.

 

[Kerpal]

The truth is that, the best guitar sound I can get is using my Peavey Rage 158 Miced on its lead channel. I've tried using a pedal or using the Behringer V-amp, but in the end, micing my Rage 158 with an SM-57 just sounds better, even if I can't get a great metal tone.

I plan on picking up a Peavey Bandit 112 soon enough which has far better overdrive so the right guitar won't sound so bad. I noticed that it almost sounds out of tune at times, but the truth is it was in tune during the recording and the intonation was good.

I think a lot of people that have listened to this didn't consider it necessarily Metal because of you think about it, the tones sound more like from a rock band I suppose. Using a nice heavy gain can sound a lot darker I guess. Anyways thanks for the comments, I am gonna fiddle around with the bass, I'll try boosting 800-1200hz.


Also, yeah me and my friend who recorded this song are huge fans of Opeth, In Flames, Dark Tranquility etc. so I'm sure you can hear it