Thanks for the kind words mate. Yeah I actually had a request from a dude who hosts a fairly well known alt-media podcast here in Aus about writing an intro for their upcoming season, so this track is literally the end result of that particular discussion.
Aside from that, having dropped all forms of social media many years ago, I’m fairly limited, as far as reaching an audience goes.
So I basically wrote all the music , 100% within the box using Slate drums, and Guitar Rig then handed it on to a good buddy and exceptional vocalist (Jones Nelson) in the States to write/ lay down main vox.
I had another buddy (also in the States) lay down the ‘preacher’ intro, and a good friend and ex bandmate over in New Zealand recorded the guitar solo for us, so it was a bit of a team effort really.
Not to mention @ColdRoomStudio who helped push the mix over the finishing line with his ears of gold.
Wow, thanks for all the info! The vocalist really brought all the emotions to life, I think he interpreted your intent with the lyrics perfectly. Great to hear this traveled around the globe, I’m glad I asked!
Upon reflecting, and analyzing this comment, and putting it into practice I’ve arrived at the stark realization that I’ve just been mixing the guitars way too loud, every single time I mix.
Hence ALWAYS struggling to get the low end components of the drumkit and bass guitar to not get buried.
This has been a real epiphany to be quite honest.
It’s actually a bit of a mind fuck to hear how heavy the guitars can sound, they lower you bring them down.
How much more did you bring them down to achieve this new mix? You said above on Post #17 that dropping them 0.3dB from before seemed to be the sweet spot. I’m curious how much more it took after you had the epiphany. As guitarists, especially with heavy Rock IMO, it’s easy to want the guitars to really stand out, but as you point out it can throw the overall balance off.
I reckon the ’ sweet spot’ I was referring to was really just a happy medium between those two particular levels, but I still wasn’t focusing on the big picture, and listening objectively enough, to how the guitars were interacting and overcrowding the drums/bass.
I made a further cut of -0.3db over all the guitars, for a total of -0.5db after Andrew suggested they were possibly still too loud.
Having made this move on the guitars also allowed me to give the bass-buss a little level bump too (not sure exactly how much) which seemed to thicken/enhance the guitar sound even further.
So true, it’s a kneejerk reaction as a guitarist (for me anyway) to simply reach for the fader and drive those suckers until they sound ‘loud’, but unfortunately it’s been to the detriment of all the other elements in the mix.
Now it feels like the toms are too loud hehe
Good work on zeroing in on it. Back in the Recording Review days, Brandon Drury used the term “squint mode”, where you can tell a difference in sound, but had to really focus to be sure. Those incremental moves and going back and forth, with rest for the ears, can be a great method.
It’s always something, isn’t it? As with many things, there’s going to be some kind of compromise where you can’t have your cake and eat it too. As long as the song and mix has the desired emotional impact on the audience, and nothing is poking out or distracting the listening experience, it may be time to call it done.
BTW, are you considering any kind of mastering on it, or was that kind of built into the mix in terms of loudness, etc? Just curious.
You’re absolutely right. At some point i just have to accept the limits of my abilities, be happy that I made it this far and call it a day. Guaranteed if I start fucking with stuff at this stage I’ll just ending ruining it all together.
Once upon a time I wouldn’t have anything on the mix buss, print the track and then ‘master’ as a separate project, but these days I mix straight into the limiter on the mix buss basically at the final level.
I think you get a better picture of how the certain elements react together when you’re driving everything hard.
I used the free Klanghelm IVGI saturation plugin on the master buss (50%) on this particlar track, just in its base state and it really seemed to thicken up the sound with a rich but subtle saturation. https://klanghelm.com/contents/products/IVGI.php
The production, arrangement and performance on this is all great. I’m late to this, but it is obvious how much work has been done with all the revisions. Getting the low end to make the guitars sound big is an art in itself, but I’m always amazed at isolated guitar tracks that sound wimpy without the bass filling it in.
Hey cheers for the feedback, I’m so glad I decided to drop it on here first tbh, it’s sounding a million times better than where I started.
Ain’t that the truth. I’m a little embarrassed it’s taken me this long to figure out.
I reckon I could go back over every song I’ve ever written and instantly improve the mix by bringing the guitars down and bolstering them with the bass.
It’s quite illuminating to check out some isolated guitar and bass tracks of songs we know and admire to hear how the “heaviness” duties are assigned in the mix. There are plenty available on the internet- for example: https://youtube.com/channel/UCQvkSgpKvR6zjMc33oC-7_Q
As with many things, there’s going to be some kind of compromise where you can’t have your cake and eat it too. 
As long as the song and mix has the desired emotional impact on the audience, and nothing is poking out or distracting the listening experience, it may be time to call it done.