[omgitsoop]

 
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Dimmu Borgir's next album Abradahabra is probaply years most anticipated album, probaply because of the rather... ahem... curious name. Now, there is now one song leaked out (single?) Gateways. Being impatient ADD person I am I had to take a peek.
 
And I'm stunned! It is actually not half bad! Not half good either but better than anything in In Sorte Diaboli, and I was expecting something absolutely terrible. Dimmu Borgir has added some variance to their basic formulas. There seems to be more weight on tremolo riffing melodies than before (that I remember anyway) which is nice as I love tremolo, keyboards/orchestra varies from rather Tartaros-like demented atmosphere to very Cradle Of Filthish stuff. I think they have picked some inspiration from CoF otherwise too, yet its still 100% Dimmu Borgir in good and bad (like Shagraths vocal effects. Damnit Shagrath, you have perfectly fine black metal scream! Stop playing with effects!)
 
I am actually waiting for the next album not just because of the stupid name, but because that leaked song actually shows signs of decent quality. Very curious. Still, I'm not expecting a masterpiece nor should I, Dimmu Borgir has lost it long time ago. And this photo alone is enough to drop my expectations a notch or two.
http://metal-archives.com/board/viewtopic.php?p=1644491#1644491
 
Its Dimmu Borgir allright... LMAO!

i feel dimmu borgir didnt really hit full stride until mustis showed up, and many of my favorite parts of the songs are vortex's clean vocals, with both of those dudes now out of the band im very wary of the next album...

 

[Somnambulist]

The song's on YouTube if anyone wants to check it out:

 
EDIT - better quality version

 

[DaveBSC]

Interesting. It's better than Diaboli, I'll give them that. Two new albums I've just picked up - Filter "The Trouble With Angels" 7/10, Kataklysm "Heaven's Venom" 7.5/10. Not bad, but not blown away by either.

 

[Cianyx]

Songwriting is incredibly choppy as none of the sections flow into one another. Sound is pretty overproduced (but it's Dimmu Borgir). Instrumentation is the most diverse they've done (to my knowledge) but contributes to the choppiness. It's quite epic and atmospheric, in a sense, but that still doesn't really appeal to me.
 
Verdict: I'll pass

 

[Somnambulist]

Dimmu make me think of a metal Broadway or something, showtunes with corpsepaint and spikes. Nothing wrong with that (for me), if you like the early stuff there's a million bands that sound like that, the SBD/PUE era is my favourite though.

 

[MaZa]

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i feel dimmu borgir didnt really hit full stride until mustis showed up, and many of my favorite parts of the songs are vortex's clean vocals, with both of those dudes now out of the band im very wary of the next album...

 
 
Indeed. With Vortex gone, Dimmu has lost quite a bit of the little appeal I had for that band. But so far the leaked song piqued my interest again, it reminds me of PEM quite a bit if you ask me. I do not detect too much choppiness either, I think it flows forward quite well, or atleast I've heard worse. I even like the possessed female-witch vocals which some are people complaining that they sound terrible (which makes me think are they really that dense and do not understand they are supposed to be that way? Or why they are terrible?)
 
Production is overproduced, but much improved from Diaboli which was completely flat, absolutely no punch.

 

[Trogdor]

I have a very odd question.  I have been listening to a lot of Slayer since I saw them for the first time a couple of weeks ago (want to see them again) and can someone tell me why all of their CDs have been mastered by a deaf old man?  Its some of the worst mastering I have ever heard.
 
I have ALSO noticed that in general, metal albums are not mastered correctly.  The better equipment I use to playback, the worst it becomes (especially some of the compressed feel of some of them - its the one aspect of metal that royally pisses me off).

 

[DaveBSC]

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I have ALSO noticed that in general, metal albums are not mastered correctly.  The better equipment I use to playback, the worst it becomes (especially some of the compressed feel of some of them - its the one aspect of metal that royally pisses me off).

 
No kidding. That's one of the main reasons why I've never really gotten into black metal, because 90% of it sounds like it's coming through a tin can and some string. As for why metal in general often sounds bad, I think it's either a budget issue, or the bands just don't care. It's one thing if a struggling, just signed grindcore band puts out a poorly produced album. There is NO excuse though for what happened with Death Magnetic or World Painted Blood. Truly well produced metal albums that also happen to be excellent musically are quite rare, which makes them real gems to listen to. A couple of examples of this are Delain's "April Rain", Devin Townsend's "Ki", " Ensiferum's "From Afar", Eternal Tears of Sorrow's "Before the Bleeding Sun", and Kalisia's "Cybion". Opeth albums also usually are well produced. 
 

 

[Cianyx]

The only time I care about production is when it is used to create atmosphere. Clean and perfect production can ruin an album for me because I personally find it to lack character. 
You'd probably find this to be absolutely horrible
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMiC6mrP7Z4
 
I find it, however, to be quite a work of art. The clipped-to-hell sound gives the impression of a pained emotion. Sort of reminds me of Varg's shrieks on Hvis Lyset Tar Oss; full of emotion and passion. Just like a band who chooses to use harsh vocals, production is only a means to an end. Nonetheless, metal has never been about amazing production so I really wouldn't expect that.
 
Edit: Listening to For All Tid for the first time, it's honestly good.

 

[Trogdor]

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The only time I care about production is when it is used to create atmosphere. Clean and perfect production can ruin an album for me because I personally find it to lack character. 
You'd probably find this to be absolutely horrible
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMiC6mrP7Z4
 
I find it, however, to be quite a work of art. The clipped-to-hell sound gives the impression of a pained emotion. Sort of reminds me of Varg's shrieks on Hvis Lyset Tar Oss; full of emotion and passion. Just like a band who chooses to use harsh vocals, production is only a means to an end. Nonetheless, metal has never been about amazing production so I really wouldn't expect that.
 
Edit: Listening to For All Tid for the first time, it's honestly good.

If you don't care about production why do you care about sound reproduction?  It seems slightly counter intuitive.

 

[Trogdor]

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No kidding. That's one of the main reasons why I've never really gotten into black metal, because 90% of it sounds like it's coming through a tin can and some string. As for why metal in general often sounds bad, I think it's either a budget issue, or the bands just don't care. It's one thing if a struggling, just signed grindcore band puts out a poorly produced album. There is NO excuse though for what happened with Death Magnetic or World Painted Blood. Truly well produced metal albums that also happen to be excellent musically are quite rare, which makes them real gems to listen to. A couple of examples of this are Delain's "April Rain", Devin Townsend's "Ki", " Ensiferum's "From Afar", Eternal Tears of Sorrow's "Before the Bleeding Sun", and Kalisia's "Cybion". Opeth albums also usually are well produced. 
 

 
So I picked up Slayer's boxset Soundtrack to the Apocalypse since its apparently a very good introduction to their body of work (that and World Painted Blood).  Well, on one of the discs, there is an old recording of South of Heaven from Jeff's Garage - it doesn't sound that much different than the mastered version!  I was like What.
 
World Painted Blood has the same sound as Seasons and that album is what, over a decade old.
 
I have a friend who is a huge Devin Townsend fan and I need to check out "Ki."  Though I can't say I am a huge Strapping fan just yet (on and off).
 
Who are Delain and Kalisia?
 
 
My biggest issues with metal production is the compressed feel some albums have: The compression is especially bad, the sound of typically a bass or backup guitar is just lost in some heavy metal harmonic toxic event.
 
I hear you DaveBSC, I don't mind when some small Metalcore band has shoddy production due to cost.  But the mastering I am talking about seems pervasive regardless of production resources ($).

 

[SoupRKnowva]

Maybe a weird request, but does anyone know of any Melodic Death metal or metalcore, with female leads that do "pretty" singing? as in not arch enemy, but also not symphonic metal. I was listening to Eyes Set to Kill the other day, and realized that a heavier version of them would be pretty sweet i think 

 

[DaveBSC]

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I find it, however, to be quite a work of art. The clipped-to-hell sound gives the impression of a pained emotion. Sort of reminds me of Varg's shrieks on Hvis Lyset Tar Oss; full of emotion and passion. Just like a band who chooses to use harsh vocals, production is only a means to an end. Nonetheless, metal has never been about amazing production so I really wouldn't expect that.

It's one thing to use distortion intentionally for artistic effect, I get that. I would rather listen to Twilight Of The Thunder God though than Once Sent From The Golden Hall. Twilight may not be the better album musically, but Golden Hall sounds like garbage, and that takes away the enjoyment for me. I seriously doubt that Amon Amarth intentionally wanted the album to sound that way.

 

[DaveBSC]

 
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I have a friend who is a huge Devin Townsend fan and I need to check out "Ki."  Though I can't say I am a huge Strapping fan just yet (on and off).  
Who are Delain and Kalisia?
 
My biggest issues with metal production is the compressed feel some albums have: The compression is especially bad, the sound of typically a bass or backup guitar is just lost in some heavy metal harmonic toxic event.
 
I hear you DaveBSC, I don't mind when some small Metalcore band has shoddy production due to cost.  But the mastering I am talking about seems pervasive regardless of production resources ($).

I'm not sure Ki is a great introduction to the Devin Townsend band if you're not already familiar with them. The production is superb, but it's a bit on the eclectic side. An album Accelerated Evolution would probably be better to start with. They are completely different than SYL. The only SYL album I like is Alien, while I have every Devin Townsend/Band/Project album.
 
Delain is a Dutch symphonic metal band created by Martjin Westerholt of Within Temptation. Their first alum is a bit average, but the follow up April Rain is magnificent. To date its the only symphonic metal album that I like, and the production is so good that it's one of a handful of metal albums that I would consider "reference" grade.
 
Kalisia is a French progressive metal band, and their album Cybion is simply a masterpiece. It's absolutely insane that they are unsigned, which makes the fact that Cybion sounds so good even more incredible.
 
It's often the mastering that can ruin an album, but not always. Take And Justice For All, for example. That was ruined either at the mixing stage, or just during the actual recording process itself. I've heard the Warner Brothers and the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab remastered vinyl versions, and they don't sound any better than the '88 original. The drums still sound like clicks and pops, and Jason's bass still isn't there. If there was ever an album that cried out for a re-recording, Justice For All is it. 
 
The Loudness War affects a lot of metal releases just as much as pop/rock albums, which is where that awful compression comes in. Digital recordings have an absolute ceiling where they can't get any louder, and if you raise the floor higher and higher, all you end up doing is reducing the dynamic range between soft and loud sounds which sucks the life out of everything. Some 2009 and 2010 releases have gotten so bad that a track is literally just a solid line from beginning to end.
 

 

[DaveBSC]

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Maybe a weird request, but does anyone know of any Melodic Death metal or metalcore, with female leads that do "pretty" singing? as in not arch enemy, but also not symphonic metal. I was listening to Eyes Set to Kill the other day, and realized that a heavier version of them would be pretty sweet i think 

That's a tricky one. I like Helen Vogt of Flowing Tears, but they are gothic metal, not really death. I'm not really into Eyes Set to Kill emo stuff, but if you do find anything let me know.