Production needs some work.
You've got a decent sound going here. Just a few production problems that stick out to me.
Mainly, the guitars clip and the drums are too quiet.
It sounds like you have at least 2 guitar tracks in there; try panning one hard left and the other hard right. That will open up the sound a LOT.
As far as the drums go, just bring them up overall, and then go from there.
Hope this helps.
Metal! \m/
Yeah, I'm no good at mixing, leveling out each track and whatnot... I guess the 2 guitars panning to each side should've been common sense... but oh well.
And I noticed the clipping shortly AFTER I uploaded it, at which point I was too lazy to fix it.
Thanks for the review!
Great production!
Yeah, I can definitely hear the work you put into this one. I would love to have a FLAC version so I could hear it in it's full, non-lossy glory.
My only gripe is that the cymbals seem to be just a LITTLE too loud throughout,
especially the open hats during the verse(?) riff.
Certainly shouldn't be very difficult to fix, though, if you even care to.
The dynamics are excellent; none of that overcompressed wall of sound here.
Overall, this is fantastic. Lower the overheads a little, and it will be perfect as far as I'm concerned.
4.31 / 5.00 (+ 0.032)
Metal! \m/
Haha! well, the little extra tweaks will be underway sometime soon. I'll make a slightly updated version with a lower volume on the hats and cymbals and keep it in Wav format. I don't have any converters for FLAC unfortunately. Hope Wav will do???
Some pointers...
For 'laboring' on the drums, they sure don't sound that great.
No offense, but they need a lot of work.
For one, they're extremely quiet. The kick and snare need to come up about 6-9dB, possibly more. The cymbals only need to come up about 2-4dB.
Also,
The guitar tone is very fuzzy/trebly. How are you recording? I know how to get amazing guitar tones for free, using excellent tools off the Intertubes; just PM me for a detailed walkthrough.
I would comment on the bass guitar, but I can barely hear it; it needs to come up quite a bit.
The structure is quite monotonous; some changes during the longer riffs would be nice. This has already been pointed out; just though I'd reiterate. =]
You've got a great idea here; the execution needs a lot of work, though.
Hopefully this review helps. And don't hesitate to PM me, if you'd like that help with your guitar tone.
Metal! \m/
Using Line 6 guitarport for direct recording. Guitar tone is washed-out and fuzzy on purpose, the final mix should be even more lo-fi. I'm not going for ear-candy here, but black metal :P
I know the drums suck shit. It's my first attempt at programming a full song, hopefully I can come up with some more creative fills and tweak the sound a bit. I went for the more simplistic, Xasthur-style drums anyways, simply to get the song done. There's something about just getting your first song done that it made me forego the perfectionism.
I agree about the bass, though nothing particularly interesting is going on with it anyways.
Thanks for the advice.
Ahhh... much better.
I actually think the rhythm guitars need to come up some, instead of turning the drums down.
I think the bass is loud enough that a few extra dB's of guitar wouldn't hurt.
I must have been worn out on guitar when I made my changes, because usually I have the guitars a little too loud... eh. It's okay the way it is.
You did notice that the volume faders are there for a reason, right?
And that reason is to turn a track's volume down?
Just checking.
Metal! \m/
As you know, my guitar was starting to wear out as well, which also could have factored in the low dB of the guitars.
It's possible that the editing and mixing wore them out too, when I use boogex, it lowers the volume quite alot.
and No, I didn't know that the faders are there to turn the volume down. I usually use enveloping to take care of that :S
Thanks for reviewing!
\m/
Cool sh*t.
Your growls are really throaty; do you do that on purpose?
The lyrics are friggin awesome, especially the fast parts; they fit so well, it makes me jealous. I never think to write lyrics like that.
Overall, great work.
Metal! \m/
i don't really know... i think they are just how they are! the first extreme metal band i listened to a lot was At The Gates... i think i modelled my growls/screams on their vocalist (not that i could ever sound that good!). But, yeah, i just belt them out as hard and loud as i can... it might hurt for a day or two after but the song still kicks arse weeks later D:
cheers re: lyrics... i usually try pretty hard with them. Nothing to be jealous about, though. I'm jealous of what you did with "black christmas"! The way I wrote "Fists" was interesting though... I just dumped a whole page of cool/evil/heavy lines out to do with the theme, without even listening to the song... then played the track over and over and tried to see what would fit.
i agree though... the fast parts are awesome and so cool! I've always wanted to sing to shit like that!
cheers for the listen man! \m/
Wow, no vox yet?
It definitely needs them.
The mixing could use a bit of work too. Mainly the drums.
The snare is a little bit loud for my taste; you might try compressing it a bit (try threshold -10dB, ratio 5:1, no makeup gain), then adding some reverb to sweeten it up.
The kick sounds kinda 'flabby' to me... are you using an undamped sample?
If so, it could probably use some compression as well.
IMO, you need some fills here and there; it seems like the riffs change with little or no warning sometimes (example: 1:51ish).
What DAW are you using? If it's capable of using sends and returns, you should definitely set up EZDrummer to use multiple tracks for the different mics, so you can EQ and effect the kick, snare, toms, overhead, etc. individually.
That is, if you aren't doing so already. =]
DK84 is definitely right about the intro; it pulls you in, and then never lets go until the end.
The breakdown is great too. Sure, breakdowns are generic most of the time, but fuck... it's still excellent.
Awesome track, my friend; so awesome that it deserves a 10 even with it's issues.
Hope to hear it with vox soon, even if I have to do them. =p
Metal! \m/
Oh, and I'd appreciate it if you'd check out my newest submission: http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/liste n/214194 .
Thanks!
Needs work.
Okay, starting from the top:
Drums: need work - they sound like GuitarPro drums, which is bad. EZDrummer is your friend.
Guitars: Very thin tone, no meat at all. More lowmids will help.
Bass: Is there one? If there is, I can't hear it at all.
Vocals: too loud. Growls sound terrible (inhales?); need to work on technique. Cleans are too loud, and obviously auto-tuned. Also, too much effect.
Honestly, it's not too bad overall, but it could definitely use some more tweaking/mixing.
So, I gave you a 7/3, because there's a lot of room for improvement.
If there's anything you'd like me to be more specific about, feel free to PM me.
Metal! \m/
Also, if you could check out my latest submission, I'd appreciate it. http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/liste n/214194
Sounds pretty good.
It's not perfect, but for the equipment you have available to use, you've done a very good job.
Your guitar parts get off-time from the drums occasionally - not a huge deal, but kind of distracting.
Other than that, all I can suggest is to continue to refine the techniques you've learned recently, and keep learning.
Best of luck in the future!
Thanks for the review.
My best guess on why the guitars got off time is probably because the eighth notes in part II was completely down stroked, which took alot out of my arm. Whenever there were longer notes, I'd try to get my arm better.
But definately I'll keep working on my stuff, I have a long agenda for songs to remake, and refine the songs.
I will also continue learning, and working on better soloing techniques.
I still have yet to get pick sweeping.
But thank you very much for all that you've shown me, I owe you much, master :P
\m/
Good try.
I agree with SpeedMetalSandwich, though - it needs a lot of work.
It sounds like you're distorting the mic to make the growl sound, which isn't good.
It should be your throat making the tone.
Listen to my version, if you get a minute - that might steer you in the right direction.
Keep working on your voice, and you'll get there eventually.
Best of luck.
Woah woah I have never used effect to make my growls sound better. Ever.
The reason this a distorted sound is if you read the description you know that I used a very shitty mic.
However I now have a studio mic and will re-record this if not to make it sound better than simply prove you wrong.
Definitely hell of win, right here.
I think everybody's said pretty much everything there is to say about this song.
Well, except for this: you know exactly how I feel about your guitar tone. And it's still just a tiny bit on the 'noisy buzz' side, to me. But hey, whatever, it still kicks ass. \m/
And if you do eventually become a record producer/engineer, remember who your friends are. ;]
This song kicks so much balls, it's not even funny.
WRITE LYRICS.
Then send them to me, and I will pwn it.
Oh yeah, I got Som. done, I'll email that to you in a sec.
I love this tune, dude. You should start a band, and get famous and shit.
That would rule.
Metal!!! \m/
Oh, and to everyone - I DID NOT randomly say 'shut the fuck up' in the middle of Await the Retribution. That guy is a moron. (/rant)
cool dude! Glad you got som done finally. My tone isn't the best, I'll work on it just for you bro. I'll write some lyrics and let you pwn this fo sho.
I'll try to get famous lol, dunno how it'll work out.
\m/ love dude
I'm a dude. I play guitar. I am metal to the core. Don't try to over-metal me. You will be annihilated.
Age 34, Male
Tech
High... very.
The Boondocks
Joined on 11/21/07
I Am Murloc (Cover)