Industrial Metal track - any tips or comments?

Hi, here's what I got done this long weekend! In the style of Strapping Young Lad/Fear Factory/Sybreed

Listen on Soundcloud.com

I've been using Ableton 8 for about a year now... would love to get some feedback on the overall sound, production, mix, EQ, etc.

Thanks,

Andy

It's been a long time since I listened to the mentioned bands, but here are some thoughts.

- You have too much of a 4 to the floor feel

- The guitars need to be tighter

- The guitars need to sound more direct, now they sound like 12 bit samples

Technically speaking:

I felt like the drum track was maybe a bit too dance-y to really mesh with the guitars. Some of the cymbal samples didn't sound too good either. I would have liked to hear a big, burly snare cutting through the mix. Also some of the ambient drone swells felt a bit out of place and kind of swamped the guitar tone.

Generally:

It does sound a bit generic. Maybe take some more risks with the composition to make it stand out/give it some flavour. I didn't really remember anything much about the track once it was over.

Just my suggestions :-) Good luck and keep going!

Thanks for the listens, yes the guitar sound was a struggle... I have Line6 POD Farm which just didn't have the presence I needed so I ended up using a high-pass overdrive effect as an exciter at low wet/dry settings to give it some cut and crunch. It sounded great on my monitors but maybe isn't translating well or the original tone is too saturated as you say. I do understand the less-gain=better definition rule so maybe I will try a different guitar amp VST.

I'm looking at Guitar Rig which sounds great on the demo... also for $25 I can get the Metal Shop add-on for POD Farm which sounds like it will add some amps I would like.

As for the 4 on the floor thing, that is the kind of industrial I like, something that has a dance vibe but also heavy and punishing at times. I spent all my teen years listening to KMFDM/Frontline Assembly/Ministry... I liked Fear Factory's earlier stuff, right now I'm really into Sybreed, they just crush and the guitar tone is very unique.

Thanks again, I'll see if I can clean the guitar up a bit tonight.

it has a bit of an early 90's White Zombie/NIN/etc feel to me. which is not bad, but it doesn't exactly stand out within that sound. i think the guitar sounds okay, but as a backing/secondary. it needs a lead guitar with a more lead tone to spice up the sonic palette. perhaps even some lead-style synth tones. maybe a bit more interesting bass performance, be it real or synth. from what you said it's a new sound for you though, so definitely keep at it. you've got a heck of a good start!