Random metal related thoughts

[Eoin McLove]

I was listening to Imrama today and was wondering if it's even possible to capture that kind of sound recording these days, that perfect black metal mix where the drums are muffled and low and mingle sludgily), for lack of a better term, with the bass. The guitars don't necessarily always bite through either, it all melds beautifully into one dark atmospheric mass. Too much clarity and technicality kills that buzz I think.

[ochoill]

I was listening to Imrama today and was wondering if it's even possible to capture that kind of sound recording these days, that perfect black metal mix where the drums are muffled and low and mingle sludgily), for lack of a better term, with the bass. The guitars don't necessarily always bite through either, it all melds beautifully into one dark atmospheric mass. Too much clarity and technicality kills that buzz I think.

I often think about how maybe my favourite BM production of all time is Mayhem's Ordo Ad Chao for a similar sort of reason.  It is dark and atmospheric rather than technical, but remains clear, suits the whole thing absolutely perfectly.  Obviously tons of examples and in a lot of cases probably more technical than we are imagining.  Fuck knows I struggle to mic amp up to do anything I actually want

[Bürggermeister]

It's possible, definitely. There's nothing in digital recording that forces clarity, it just makes clarity far easier to achieve than the recording setups of old. A lot of the late 70's and early 80's albums sound the way they do due to engineers and producers who had no idea what to do with Metal, they were experienced in other forms of music, usually far slower tempo, and applied those techniques to high tempo Metal bands who, for many, were inexperienced at recording, on a tight budget with a clock ticking down in a studio with limited tracks, limited outboard gear and went with whatever the experienced head said to them. It's why there's so much fucking reverb on a lot of old stuff. In lower tempo music, you can use long reverb, in particular, to fill space, make things sound bigger. In high tempo Metal, there was no need, in fact, it made that indistinct soup of a sound many of us grew up on. Then everything got clicky. So, yeah, it's totally possible but too many people know too much now, have too many tracks with too many plugins and too many presets so everything sounds the same. Digital and Protools are often portrayed as the problem but, as ever, it's people. Digital recording just makes it easier not to sound muddy, if that's what someone chooses, but the old sounds are there if you want.

[Eoin McLove]

Yeah, that seems logical. But then, even murky bands these days sound different in their murkiness. It might be harder than it looks to capture that magical ineptitude in practice.

[Mithrandir]

Wrong thread

[Mithrandir]

Yeah, that seems logical. But then, even murky bands these days sound different in their murkiness. It might be harder than it looks to capture that magical ineptitude in practice.

Yeah it's a strange concept, albums that have a great or unique sound but only due to their limitations at the time vs recording on professional state of the art gear trying to make it sound like it was recorded on an 8-track.

[Mithrandir]

Buggermeister's comment in the off topic thread about similar band names reminded me of that band LVTHN, surely that's just like calling yourself TTNBLD?!

[Eoin McLove]

EON MCLV

[Mithrandir]

 

[Trev]

Waa talking to my manager in work yesterday about the Maiden gig, never knew he was into them but turns out he's travelled all over Europe for their shows and seen them about 30 times

So was asking about some other stuff he'd listen to, and he says other than Maiden he doesn't really like metal. Found it very strange how he could be so big into one band, but have zero interest in anything else similar

[Ducky]

Would your manager fella not even give some Judas Priest a whirl? Mad that stuff cut from effectively the same cloth is a no-go.

Or would he be into say hard rock, and Maiden is as "heavy" as it gets?

[Eoin McLove]

Lads, the answer is simple. He's a muppet.

[Trev]

He's a nice fella, but yeah, thinking he might just be a muppet!

[Putrefaction]

I found that too back in school in the 90s, loads of guys in my year were mad into Metallica and nothing else, maybe a bit of Sep and Slayer. They used to think I was weird because I was more into Carcass, Godflesh, Gorguts etc. Spotted one of them a few weeks ago, still wearing a Metallica t-shirt, still hasn't branched out obviously, sigh...

[Ducky]

He's a nice fella, but yeah, thinking he might just be a muppet!

Pastor of Muppets. Wrong band, mind.