First Time Recording A Metal Band

[Aussierockman]

G'day everyone! I hope to post a lot more music from different bands that I've recorded over the years.
I'd love any feed-back on this metal song I've just finished mixing for a young Aussie metal band.
You see, the thing is, I've recorded all sorts of stuff over the years but this is the first time I've ever recorded a metal band.
Please keep your comments focused on the actual recording and production not how they sound as a band! They are a young 5 piece band and just starting out with a long way to go yet. I know that the singer has a lot to learn about pitch and the drummer could tighten up quite a bit with tecnique but they are only 17 with only 2 years play time behind them!

[Fuzzbuggy]

Hey Aussierockman...

Firstly, the band is actually quite impressive in terms of strong structure etc and considering how young they are they have a bright future ahead of them. Now lets get to bashing!

The bass drum I believe has the right amount of high end for a metal kit, however I believe around the 70 or 80hz range should be slightly reduced. The guitars definetly need to be put louder...snare and bass guitar should have some more high end around the 7khz range. The vocals I think are mixed OK and if you change everything else the vocals will fit in alot better. I hope this helps. Great song though.

[bugzcar]

Agree to disagree with previous post ... The guitars are def loud enough. vox are conveyed awesome. the cymbals are the only real major complaint i have about the recording of. The crashes are kinda icky when i do hear them, and when the drummer is playing a regular beat, i just hear kick and snare. I'd guess that the cymbals weren't tracked well. maybe overheads just need turning up in mix. kick could use slightly less bass as mentioned. that being said....

[Aussierockman]

Thanks dudes! I agree that the cymbals are a big let down. I asked the drummer to hire some nice Zyldjian or Sabians but he said a mate had some half decent cymbals he could use for the session. When he turned up on the day I nearly fainted. All crappy low budget Paiste, Wuhan and Pearl.
I'm a drummer by trade but these days I use an electric kit for convenience sake so I had nothing decent to loan him. (Wish I'd kept my cymbal set but.......!)

[MarcoBroChill]

i would add more guitar... try to make the guitar sounds "pissed" layer it some. it seems like a lot of reverb in the mix. try to eq the reverb a little. snare sound nice and clear. try to get the bass guitar and the kick drum to "fit" together eq them so they compliment each other.

[vayalaping]

Pretty good for a young band - for some reason they remind me of Iron Maiden. It's probably their unison guitar lines. Great sweeping by the guitarist on the right channel.

Anyway, I didn't quite hear toms, and the cymbals really don't have "authority". Maybe the drums are a little too compressed? The singer's mix sounded good to me. The guitar's tone does need work (cheese-grater, a-la cheap Crate amp) but that may be his taste.

[tiberius]

I think the vocals are a bit too much louder than the guitars.
Possibly too much reverb on the guitar rhythm parts.
Maybe record the guitars again with different amp/cab and mix two takes together for
a bigger sound.
The vocals sound a bit weedy. What mike are you using on them?
I'd do rock vocals on a dynamic mike and not a condensor. Compress them a bit more
and possibly add some delay and a touch more reverb.
There is a definite Iron Maiden sound to the proceedings. See if you can get hold of something off the Piece of Mind album like 'The Trooper' - someone in this band will have it and aim for that sound.

[guitargod09]

Im having a hard time hearing the right guitar come through. maybe raise the level of that a few dbs. I would lower the reverb a tad on the clean vocals. My opinion, i would take th reverb out of the screaming vocals. they should be more up front.

[Aussierockman]

Thank you all for your much appreciated input so far!
Some very useful tips you've given me.
Cheers, Aussierockman

[The Producing Drummer]

id definitely bring those overheads up and bring the guitars up. are there any close tom mics? toms add that thunder that a metal recording calls for. the guitars need to be up there in front with the vocals..without them there is no metal. lol. and if you could i would definitely have that drummer on a metronome.(personal taste maybe)