Tactile Sound

Deathspell Omega - Paracletus

2010-12-22T14:51:00.004+02:00

Some patterns are easy to notice and the production work on DsO's recordings during the past 6 years is one of those easy to spot repetitions.
For some bands a certain blueprint works just fine and becomes - with time - the core and identity of the band. But for others, it's not always the case.

Si Monumentum marked a major shift in sound, ideology, composition and the visual aesthetics of the band.. something that was/is obvious to anyone familiar with their earlier works.

Sound wise - and that's what concern Tactile Sound, the shift was mainly from a typical/standard early 90's Black Metal production (a.k.a the necro production that characterized the sound of many Scandinavian Black Metal bands - mostly Norwegian ones) to a more "modern one" so to speak.

This shift could be seen more of a statement rather than a simple change. A declaration that DsO does not wish to belong or remain entrapped in the shadows of old gods and rather embark on a trip of their own drug formula and dosage. And frankly, the release of Si Monumentum back in the day was somehow similar to the first introduction of LSD in the market. Varied reactions from the consumers and endless debates. However, a change in sound is always welcome especially in a genre that is in stagnation and isn't known for its open-mindedness and acceptance of "alien" elements.

With the release of Paracletus DsO placed itself in the same place when they first started. They seem way too keen on their sound blueprint and are consciously avoiding any further sound exploration. Afraid to take a step further? Or did they just reach a dead end? Or are they simply trying to maintain their recent gathered followers? Many questions can be raised and the answer will remain unknown until the next release.

Comparing between the production on Si Monumentum and Paracletus and what came out in between is almost unavoidable due to the minor sound tweaking. One blueprint (an overall muffed bass sounding production with a crypt-like atmosphere) with the same ingredients only with a different dosage that kept altering from one release to another up until the present. Although Paracletus doesn't differ much from its predecessor Fas and it is by no mean equal to it, but on the contrary, it is inferior making it the worse sounding album in their last 6 years of their discography.

You're going to a certain gig, it's in this small place, underground.. you open the door, take the stairs and start going down to reach the big, thick door imprisoning the music behind it and leaving you with an echoing rumble. This is how Paracletus sound, like being trapped in the corridor away from where the action is taking place. A muffed sounding album cut out from all mid and high frequencies rendering it completely blurry with a never-ending rumbling bass that explodes during the faster parts. It's a one giant suffocating sound.

The reasons for such a result are crystal clear:

- A low/fat drum kick and a bass guitar badly captured that get worse with blast beats and faster parts.
- A wrong choice of guitar distortion where it sounds like a badly equalized overdrive on a bass amp

Topping this with a more of a low pitched vocals, the album screams for a higher pitched sounds rendering it stale and seriously lacking sound dynamics. The combination worked perfectly on Si Monumentum, where the vocal variations and the adding of different samples/sound layers mixed with a clearer guitar sound gave an immense room for the bass guitar and drums to shine and add depth.

Paracletus sounds like a reverse caricature of Norwegian Black Metal where the band deliberately dropped every single treble and mid knob down to zero.

Immortal - All Shall Fall

2009-10-09T14:25:00.005+03:00

Big, fat, quick, mechanic, polished, clear, soulless. That's how, to put it simple and in brief, the entire production on Immortal's All Shall Fall can be categorized.

There are various points of view that can apply to such a production yet in the end it's what I call the "Burger King Production". It looks all fat, clean, tasty, tempting and handed out quick to you... once digestion starts, you hear all those various sounds coming from the stomach and your shit smells like sewers. That's what All Shall Fall is all about. Your first few listens are just fine and the ear has no problems.. one more listen after that and it's whole different story.

Trendy sound production is suitable to place for this album but, superficial suits it better. It's a fair sound to give for an upcoming and rising heavy/thrash metal band, none would expect more and everyone will be pleased. To offer Immortal's new album, raising the sticks music and sound wise is only expected. Offer a Black Metal album and I'd double the production's expectations, name Immortal and I'd triple that.

Production, production, production!

Did I say it enough? No?

Production! Production! Production!

Ice, blizzard storms, darkness and all the usual "Nordic" themes coming from the band, we all know that. But where is that integrated in the sound? Forget the treble and thin sound, where's the atmosphere?

Bombastic triggered drums, mixed high and loud, with a minimal attention given to any of the other parts of the kit over the expense of the sacrificed bass lines tossed along an average guitar sound and an average vocal mix. Some call it "safe" sound, I call it faceless. If the band isn't aware that the sound what made them, the old followers do. Think about it, what's the difference between the sound of A Bullet for My Valentine and the new Immortal?

Big and forward triggered drum kicks bring no atmosphere, let alone coldness. Definitely and certainly a very un-blashyrikh production.

A worthy note of mention, 4 tracks with an "intro" with a low volume, leaving you with 3 options: 1) Raise the volume up high and lower it down when the music starts 2) Skip it 3) Sit and wait.

1349 - Revelations of The Black Flame

2009-10-08T22:56:00.005+03:00

It took me 10 seconds to know what to expect from this album sound wise. I always find it hilarious when a black metal band attempts doing some kind of a "dark ambient intro", not only it shows their lack of imagination but also demonstrates a serious lack of talent when it comes to non traditional approach to sound.

So what's the fuss all about? Tom G. Warrior?

I'd take the sound of any band's rehearsal at any time over the production of this album; over-clipping, over sound boosting and a sloppy way of sound capturing. The overall sound could have worked OK if the entire album was much slower, however the presence of the blast beats make it one big pile of annoying sounds.

I wonder what saddens me the most, how the entire album sound came to be or how "Set The Controls for The Heart of The Sun" was mixed.

Hard to find any more words to describe what a mess this album's production is. I strongly advice the guys finding a sound wizard for their upcoming effort.

Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions

2009-09-19T21:03:00.011+03:00

Massive big blocks and chunks of words found all across the web in forms of "reviews" for this album applauding it on many levels, yet confusing the references between the live experience and the studio one.

I have only heard about Sunn O)))'s live shows, but haven't been fortunate enough to witness one and feel the intensity of their chords in my chest, which is a positive point for this sound review focusing on the actual record making no parallels.

Monoliths & Dimensions sets a turning point in the band's sound production and it is worth welcoming, though no change comes for free rather always on the expense of "something else". The first keywords corssing my mind in contrast everytime I listen to this album are: Clarity, Drone, Lo-fi, Darkness, Bass and Dynamics. Comparing Monoliths & Dimensions to the previous productions is somehow futile as it clearly shows how "polished" this album's sound is. Sure it's clearer, bigger and sharper in sound, but how does it really work for a bass driven droning band?

The muffed sound and low end bass rumbles always suited Sunn O))). They increased the mystery, boosted the dark atmosphere and worked perfectly with the minimal approach to their music. Monoliths & Dimensions is pretty much like a sailing ship in the middle of the ocean, it unclothed the musical structure, making it all naked and pale in a vast area where nothing much happens. The dark atmosphere became less and the lack of sound dynamics is now more than obvious, which only proves why people are keen on the closing track "Alice" more than any other track on the album. The track has the suitable sound dynamics to make this production interesting, while unfortunately the rest of the tracks fail to deliver.

Monoliths & Dimensions is a great improvement in sound production where Randall Dunn and Mell Dettmer delivered a solid outcome that does not match the current band's musical state but, it might work in the future where more dynamics are introduced and developed as in the case of Bohren & Der Club of Gore. It is a new starting point for the band and it will be interesting to hear the production on the next work where a dramatic change on all levels is more than expected.

Khanate - Clean Hands Go Foul

2009-04-13T17:57:00.012+03:00

Once Khanate’s name is mentioned, you cannot help yourself from thinking about harshness, heaviness and pure rawness. These are one of the main keys that made Khanate what it is without any argument. With the latest and last record Clean Hands Go Foul those above factors are put into question and under serious introspection. Even though rawness and heaviness are undoubtedly present, it is remarkably obvious that there is something missing.

When each instrument’s sound is to be taken separately and analyzed, one could say they are fairly recorded and produced.
Actually, everything seems to be kept as live sounding and as raw as possible with an almost non-existing final production or sound mastering. Sure this sounds great so far thinking it will make your ears bleed, but that’s not the case here at all as all knobs are turned down. They are so low to the point where the entire album suffers from a strictly conservative production unfitting for a record that is supposed to make you brain damaged.

If sound production’s possibilities that could apply to Clean Hands Go Foul are to be considered in the broadest sense, any of them could have turned this record into a mutant beast instead of a dormant one.

Bass could have been so much heavier and higher in the mix. The rock drum sound, which sometimes is mistaken for some random rattle, could have been, at the very least, a three ton hammer crushing solid metal beneath its throbbing power. And, to make things even worse, the guitar sound is extremely thin as if it was plugged through a standard distortion pedal to a small valve state Marshall Amplifier and captured by a direct line in with all its occasional background static electric noises. This instrument, all alone, could have built massive walls of distortion and mayhem that might have added much more depth to the overall sound and gave things an extra boost of chaos and doom.

Although Clean Hands Go Foul is fairly mixed, its sound production value is average at best, which is a shocking surprise for a record handled by James Plotkin. Not a monster of sound waves, but a tamed animal locked in a cage waiting to be fed.

Beherit - Engram

2009-04-11T18:38:00.015+03:00

It was announced for a good time now that Beherit is back with something to say to this world. Keeping an optimistic coming back from this band was a present possibility, especially since Marko Laiho was highly active in the electronic scene for more than a decade now, which could only mean one thing for Tactile Sound: an efficient improvement in sound techniques and production.

The sound production of Beherit’s first two albums is inarguably one of the main factors that placed the band on the map. The production on Oath of The Black Blood is what really gave birth to chaotic/noise driven Black Metal bands and projects all over the years.

Its raw, low-fi/garage messed up sound added a mystic aura to the overall atmosphere that is still copied to this very day by a great amount of bands worldwide. And, with Drawing Down The Moon Beherit set a new standard to doom driven Black Metal with its excessive clear bass presence and oppressive heavy production shrouded by complete darkness. The album’s sound did not only influence a countless amount of Black Metal bands, but it also spread to reach doom drone bands obsessed with heaviness and low frequencies. Thus, it is only natural to highly anticipate the production on the newly released third album after all these years.

Engram states clearly where it stands and where it’s going from the very moment things kick in. Huge, well rounded, clear bass sound cuts directly and rise above everything else recorded on the album. An impressive start without a doubt, which only last for a few seconds when the listener starts to realize that it is the bass frequencies exclusively gaining the attention and keeping the ears interested in what to come. It works well alone and only alone and never with anything else.

There’s a major defection in sound going on with the crunchy, and thin distorted guitars, which sometimes become more than annoying to the ear due to the over treble present with no boosting power behind it on a high volume. All guitar layers seem to be venturing alone on a random dimension unfitting with the bass sound and are mixed way too high, especially since the drums does not add anything to the overall production nor manage to cover the guitar’s awkward noise . It’s more than strange to find a hard rock sounding drums on an album that badly requires heaviness with its relatively slow heavy riffs and doom flavors. Drum kicks are badly triggered and too thin sounding, with a flat snare skin for a sound that begs for groove and hell hammers.

Even though the instrumentations on Engram are fairly produced separately, the final mixing and mastering of the album lead to an outcome devoid of atmosphere and any original vibe. Beherit could have used Hell Militia’s Canonisation of The Foul Spirit bombastic production as a reference point before hitting the studio as it shares a great deal of musical similarities with Engram.

On another level, Engram suffers from a bizarre/annoying editing choice regarding silent spaces. All In Satan ends musically at 3:23 but the track keeps going for ten more seconds of nothing and Pagan Moon starts after four seconds of silence.

Judging Engram’s production as the work of a newcomer, it could have been seen as a fair one, but with what Beherit has behind as a history, it can’t be but a major letdown and disappointment.

Gnaw - This Face

2009-04-09T18:57:00.029+03:00

This is where the end begins and the old suffers a miserable death. Gnaw is a new born beast by well known minions that have been lurking around for a long, long time and who know well their tasks. Fans of heavy and low frequencies are in for a great surprise and a harsh lesson in sound.

This Face spits in the face of traditionalists and radical analogue freaks without any sign of remorse. Instead of walking the old road of primitive expression armed with bass and drums, Gnaw climbs peaks with a DCAF System (Digitally Controlled Annihilating Frequencies).
One cannot but give credit for this choice to the two masterminds of sound design behind this 21st century misery machine, Jun Mizumachi and Brian Beatrice. Crafting every little sound with superb accuracy and blending each one of them perfectly in a lava ocean of sub-bass layers cracking floors and bringing towers down. Their contribution to sound crafting, mixing and effects application transforms this record into a mechanical hell beast torching skies.

The inclusion of various tones, sounds and frequencies ranging from the lowest to the highest deliver not only variety to the overall sound production, but it also pushes the boundaries of extreme music. Giving a close listen, the subject can easily notice the taste in the choice of sound selection, which may fool the superficial ears as a random tweaking of knobs. When bass is strongly present, all sounds are pushed forward with a higher pitch to go hand in hand with the high piercing inhuman vocal chords of Alan Dubin all while making sure the guitar lines keep your mid ranged speakers vibrating.

This Face delivers a genuine balance between digital manipulation and sound; keeping vocals and traditional instruments intact and as raw as possible. And, it is important to add that whenever a manipulation of these instruments occurs it is consciously made on a separate layer. Feelers can be seen as the ultimate proof of this sound mastery where two drum layers are used at the same time. The first one being a thin and distorted drum line mixed with the raw/live layer, which adds this enormous industrialized depth.

The album goes beyond all genres and categories and it makes sure that it doesn't fall into the noise pit thanks to the unseen 6th member, James Plotkin for his over the top mastering skills. Handling a work of the highest caliber with a great deal of heavy sound variations and layers, James perfected his work by giving the album an unparalleled extreme boost of sound all while preserving the hateful and miserable atmosphere this work vomits from start to finish. Only an experienced and veteran artist of extreme music can manage to keep this balance without making the record suffer from clipping and over compression.

This Face stabs the extreme underground scene violently with a poisonous dagger and sets a brand new standard to any filthy/raw sound production that will surely work every piece of your sound system; from the super tweeters to the tactile transducers.

A classic.

Xasthur - All Reflections Drained

2009-04-03T16:45:00.015+03:00

In Black Metal, non-commercial one that is, production values are non existent so to speak. Most bands are allergic to the idea thinking it's an act of heresy to spend some money on such a "useless" thing, or they simply cannot afford this "luxury" for various reasons. But what most forget about is that Black Metal depends highly on the sound rather than anything else, for it is the main factor creating the record's atmosphere.

There is a massive misconception regarding sound production (from editing, to mixing and mastering) in Black Metal. Most artists link the term with nice sounds, polished frequencies and fancy/soft outcome.
Truth is, recording in your bathroom or at the biggest recording studio on earth, when it comes down to Black Metal, sound and atmosphere are the main keys for an album's success or failure as there is barely any emphasis on the musical skills and instrumentation. Many Black Metal records received a cult status based solely on the way they sound, like: Oath of The Black Blood - Beherit, Vampires of Black Imperial Blood - Mutiilation, Transilvanian Hunger - Darkthrone, to name a few.

Xasthur is one of those projects that highly count on atmosphere rather than anything else. And, like all its previous releases, All Reflections Drained is primitively recorded using the most simplistic means to set up a sound of misery, despair, melancholy and hopelessness. When one thinks of these words, certain hallow yet murky sound becomes anticipated, which this record paradoxically dismiss.

There's an over-saturation of bass frequencies creating a wave eclipsing the guitar sound throughout the entire album. The bass guitar is way too present in the mix and backed up with low tone keys which adds more low frequencies/rumblings to the record and renders the sound into a faceless creature with occasional feedback presence due to the exceeding amount of reverb used on all tracks. The absence of almost any treble makes the album begs for some space so the instruments can breathe and emerge a bit to the surface.

Drums - lacking any production value - could have added more air to the record instead of working as a distracting factor standing on its own away from the rest of sound layers.

Although the above mentioned points apply to the entire record, the sound level does not. All Reflections Drained has the first three tracks with a lower sound level than the rest. Occasional editing flaws rear their head on tracks like Masquerade of Incisions (5:30, 8:32, 11:14, 15:18) and Obfuscated In Oblivion (1:21, 2:09, 3:15, 4:21) which could have been avoided with a minimal effort.

There's nothing wrong with self handling sound production in case of lack of money or when one has some of the required skills to do it. In Xasthur's case there's no reason to do it as Malefic does lack the skills obviously and Hydra Head is no small or a poor label to cover the expenses.

All Reflections Drained fails to deliver the needed sound for its full expression.

Isis - Wavering Radiant

2009-04-02T19:24:00.020+03:00

When I first got introduced to Isis it was through the Celestial album. The very first thing that caught my attention and sucked me in was its fat bass chest penetrating sound. Removed far away from groove, it was a full low frequency assault on the subwoofers and that what made Isis vibrates across the oceans of this planet even with its little production imperfections.

Isis crossed a long road since then, evolving as a band and in sound. With Wavering Radiant the whale is reaching out to the surface for some air
and sun rays instead of creating massive deep sea currents.
A turn off for some and a welcome change for others, one should blame or praise Tool for it.

Joe Barresi (Tool, The Melvins, Queens of The Stone age etc…) stepped in this time to prove everyone’s opinion on the strong connection between Tool and Isis. While pushing the bass more into the picture with a clearer image and a stronger presence, there is a disturbing imbalance between the lower and higher frequencies. There’s a clear line separating the sound of each instrument on this album instead of unity. It’s becoming obvious that Isis is trying to regenerate a new flesh to cover its bass skeleton, but it’s not thick enough to take a full shape. The detuned guitars could have helped reaching the new perfect shape if there was more emphasis on power chords as featured on the track Hand of The Host (starting at 8:27 and on) and on the first two and the half minutes of the bulldozing beginning of Threshold of Transformation which will make any Isis diehard on seventh heaven instead of the higher chords dominating the entire album. But the main key for the full sound potential in here lies in the drum sound rather than the guitars or the varied well crafted dense layers. And this is the major drawback on this album. Isis and Joe’s decision for a more “refined” and “uptight” drum sound caused the imbalance in delivering the goods, like a shy boy sitting in the corner afraid of speaking his mind out. I think Terry Date could have stepped in here just perfectly with his classic groovy drum kick, sharp hi-hat and the huge over the wall crash sound which could have supplied the extra punch and dynamics lacking on this album’s production. Joe’s skills worked perfectly for Queens of The Stone Age and Tool, but the formula cannot be applied here. Isis deserves something of a different nature to suit its expression.

Even though Wavering Radiant is a step forward in sound production for Isis with its thick, warm, summer-like ambiance, there’s still plenty of room for improvement and originality.