Just listened to “Swarm” and damn, this is next level riffing! Absolutely love those fast vibrato parts @1:12, and the solo line @2:05… Great production also!
Vocals sound good, but needs to “sit in the mix” a little better IMO. Hence, lowering the vocal levels a bit would perhaps help them blend in, and would perhaps emphasise the aggressive nature of the song (which I like btw!).
Dark and menacing songs, for sure! While it is probably in keeping with the sound image of black metal that you are after, I would have wished for a tad more low end bass in the production, and a little more prominent snare.
Nice riffing! Would be nice with a melody on top, preferably sung by someone with falsetto screaming capabilities! 🙂
My only critique is perhaps in relation to the drum programming. While the drum sounds are nice (l like the roomy feel), it sounds to me as if the beats and fills perhaps could be somewhat cleaned-up or adapted to further enhance the structure of the riffs. That is tedious work, I know, even if toontrack has provided us with nice features to help.
The brightness of the bass sound disappears a little in the mix, that is true. This is difficult to avoid, at least at my level of (limited) experience of mixing. The lower frequencies are reasonably separated, I think. I high-passed the guitars at around 100-150 Hz. Didn’t want to go any higher, since I needed the guitars to “growl” quite a bit… 🙂
So, for all the guitar parts I used a Gretsch White Falcon (VS 59, with TV-Jones Classics, set to bridge pick-up only and no tone-cut). I used the following basic signal chain:
Guitar
Marshall BB-2 pedal (boost mode, vol 12 o’clock, tone 9 o’clock, no gain)
MXR Super Badass Variac Fuzz pedal (variac at zero – i.e. 5V voltage, gain 1 o’clock, tone and output at 10 o’clock)
DI (Apollo Twin) into Logic Pro
I recorded using an emulated Marshall Plexi Super Lead 1959 100w (UAD/Softube) in Unison mode, as clean as possible…
For some parts I added a Mooer Tender Octaver (swell mode, full “sub”, no “upper” and max. “dry”)
For the bass track, I used my Ibanez SDGR 5-string, straight into the DI, recording it with an emulated Ampeg SVT-VR 300w with 8×10 cab (also UAD).
@rallyboy101: Thanks! Jack White is an inspiration. There is only bass on the chorus, but there it is audible at least to me – nothing fancy though, just provides a bit of bottom.
Nice tune. Nice voice that fits the style. I think the verse is strong; stronger than the chorus in fact. You’ve probably moved on to creating new songs (I know I don’t like to look back and edit old stuff), but I was just thinking it would have been interesting to try the same chord progression for the chorus (as in the verse), just using a different melody – simpler, fewer words – as a chorus.
Also, cleverly composed lyrics – where do we go from here, indeed…
Thumbs up!
@notstewart said:
Wish I could write and finish a song in 24 hours. The song reminds me a bit of the theme for the tv show “rita” (denmark). Good harmony vocals, I think you could have reduced the length a bit, but that’s just me.
Good job!
Thanks!
It is a fun concept, but requires early commitment to song structure, sounds and production. Even though we probably play it some hundred times during those 24 hours, some things you only hear the next day. It is really good practice though, and I do think we are getting better at it. Still plenty of room for improvement, obviously!
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