AWESOME PRODUCERS AND MIXERS!
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 3:30pm by Devin Townsend
These are some of my favorite producers and mixers for heavy music… It’s a challenging genre, and these guys are great in my opinion.
Jacob Hansen: Fear My Thoughts and The Hours That Remain by Mercenary, great drums and great frequency range, there’s a 250 dip in the overall mix that’s really well done.
Colin Richardson: Evangelion by Behemoth, Heartwork by Carcass. The original ‘hi-fi metal guy’ IMO. I remember when Burn My Eyes came out as well, I thought his high end approach was really commercial compared to the stuff going on at the time. I hear the mastering of that record had lots to do with that, though.
Andy Sneap: He kind of redefined metal for me in the 90’s with a unique snare sound. I really like what he did with Nevermore and DevilDriver.
Jason Suecof: He just keeps getting better… his mixes for Beneath the Massacre and Lennon were sick.
Rick Rubin: I know he takes a lot of shit for his approach and uber-compressed mix preference, but Wildflowers by Tom Petty is amazing, and “Pulse of the Maggots” is a really well done Slipknot production IMO.
Randy Staub: I thought the drum sound and mix “size” for the Load and Reload albums was amazing. I didn’t like those records, but sheesh… what wicked drum sounds. Also, the first song off Dark Horse by Nickleback is a CRUSHING mix… I REALLY am not a big fan of the band, but credit where credit is due, thats a goooood mix.
Tue Madsen: He changed things with his style as well with those first two Mnemic albums imo… “Jack Vegas” off of The Audio Injected Soul was a great modern sound.
Jens Bergman: Ghost Reveries was nearly flawless technically in terms of a mix in my opinion. Really, really well done.
Tomas Skogsberg: How awesome was Wolverine Blues? So big and dirty at the time.
Fredrik Nordstrom: Defined an era of metal sonics with At The Gates and a hundred more.
Daniel Bergstrand: A true innovator. The mix for Destroy Erase Improve blew my mind at the time.
-DT
No mention of Beau Hill and Tom Werman :)
For some reason, I expected to see Jacob Hansen on this list. His work with Mercenary and Anubis Gate is excellent.
You fail at reading and comprehension. Have a look at #1 on the list.
Actually, I take that back… I misconstrued your statement. Disregard my statement.
Yeah, I meant it as an “I see it and I’m glad it’s there” type of thing.
You’re a pretty awesome producer yourself, Devin.
ummm… no scott burns?
second that.
Scott has a place in history, for sure; but I was never a fan of his production style. Too many clicky bass drums for my taste, plus there never seemed to be a “full” sound. That could also be partly mastering’s fault, for all I know.
Devin youve gotten Very good yourself, give yourself some credit!
I would also like to add Terry Date to this list, as ive always liek what he gets involved with as well!
Kurt Ballou
Steve Albini
Don Zientera
Matt Bayles
*Jens Bogren.
killer job on Earthsblood.
Dan Swano
Hey Dev, what about Peter Tagtgren?
Good list. I’d also add Machine from his work on Ashes of the Wake. Holy shit was that album a dark sonical portal!
Steve Albini
Colin Richardson
Peter Tagtgren (or however the fuck you spell his name)
Whomever does Primordials albums
Erik Rutan.
I personally like albums with an atmosphere or an air to them (black metal) and Albini’s work on Blessed Black wings.
+1 on the rutan man
Erik is a fucking animal in all he does
Cannibal Corpse’s KILL is a monumental display of awesome death metal on all levels
Yeah, Peter is awesome, so is Dan Swano and Machine…of course.
The list above is more just an overview for discussion, theres many who are great…
Fredrik Thordendal , the list goes on…
Whomever produced the new Gorod album did a great job.
And Devin, your production is usually great, but I gotta ask… what the hell happened with Lamb Of God’s ‘As The Palaces Burn’?
yeah, nothing against devin by any means, but that album has a really weird sound to it. there’s something about the guitars on it that sound kind of hollow on the rhythm tracks. that’s a bad way of putting it, but i’m bad at describing things like that.
That may be the worst thing I’ve ever done sonically. Calling a spade a spade, the sonic qualities of atpb were fucking abysmal…sorry.
It had a good energy though, but yeah, I totally agree…HORRIBLE sounding album.
…sorry LOG…
d
I actually really like the production on As the Palaces Burn. Feels organic and cohesive and gritty in a good way to me; my favorite album from LOG.
+1
i gotta say that the newer stuff from them suits the improved production though. i just never found any of the albums as interesting as atpb.
As The Palaces Burn sounds great to me… maybe not perfect but better than the majority of LOG’s albums… I think only Wrath sounds better. NAG sounds like utter shit, AOTW is good but sounds a bit flat and lifeless, Sacrament sounds overproduced and just kinda… wrong.
Mike Fraser – To me is the best at making busy recordings come clean and interesting.
Randy Staub – That first track on Nickelback’s Dark Horse KILLED for sure.
Jonas Kjellgren, man, you forgot Jonas Kjellgren.
Also, Logan Mader is sure making a name for himself as well with Gojira, CC, Devildriver and Psycroptic under his belt.
What about Bob Rock? That snare on St. Anger was CRUSHING! And those guitars were in so much harmony!
(sarcasm meter is through the roof!)
But you gotta agree that the Black Album had above-average production, compared to shit like AJFA, with no bass, etc.
I like Stephen Wilson too. He did a good job when he was working with Opeth.
And there’s this Canadian dude called Devin Townsend, he’s pretty good too.
Although I’m not sure how he managed to fit an entire studio into his igloo, but hey. :)
Last 2 on the list are some of the best around.
Pretty bitchin’ list.
Agreed on Destroy Erase Improve more so than the rest. I bet it is a damn hard job to work on a Meshuggah album.
phil spector and whoever invented gated reverb.
Phil Collins and Hugh Padgham
I agree with…
Peter Tagtren – he is god.
Dan Swano – also golden.
Jonas Kjellgren – Riders Of The Plague. Enough said.
I disagree with (a bit)…
Erik Rutan – awesome producer, but it’s all just a bit much!
Andy Sneap – let me qualify… very specific sound now, seems a little played out. Work with Nevermore and Arch Enemy cannot be faulted though.
I remember readiing an interview with Devin about his work as a producer, where he stated that things generally went well if the band wanted him to just do his own thing, less well when they wanted “cut-price Andy Sneap”.
Also, i’d like to know which of the bands he’s worked with he really liked… I’m assuming from the guest appearances, and various comments about how he was interested in just interacting with the bands and their respective scenes, that he enjoyed working with Darkest Hour, Becoming the Archetype, Paradise Lost… but maybe less so with Bleeding Through…?
DH, BT, and BTA were all great experiences and great, passionate people. BTA were great conversations, BT was an intense, fun ride, and DH are buddies forever.
The only production experiences I disliked were local bands who came in with lots of rock-guy attitude, but were inexperienced. Made it hard to play the game for the sake of a paycheck.
I never produced PL, just guested on some songs with just Rhys behind the board in his basement.
Awesome (inspiring of awe).
Thank you for the response. It is good to know that people in “the scene” are actually able to be friends as well as business associates and that the bands you’ve mentioned (regardless of people’s opinions of their music) can be good people all the same.
Also I have been walking around for years assuming you produced PL… so that clears things up for me.
Thanks.
Tue Madesen, no one’s sound CRUSHES like his…
Steve Evetts – DEP, Every Time I Die, Turmoil, etc…
Devin you forgot Lars Fox. You always praise Grotus for one of the best bands ever (and you’re completly right with that) but i think a lot of their sound has to do with lars unique way mixing.
hail grötüs
I have to agree with the mentions of Dan Swano. Anything that man touches seems to turn into gold.
Just logged on to say :
Misery Signals…Controller…amazing production devin.
Controller was my favorite album of ‘08. You did a great job on it Devin. The album has so much clarity in the drum work and bass and guitar. I can hear every instrument clearly and it doesn’t sound overproduced. Just what Mis Sigs were missing…
Just one other production related question for you Dev,
Out of the work you’ve done for other bands, and not your own work, which are you most proud of? In terms of the production you did for it. And, if you’re up for elaborating, why?
Thanks, and much appreciated
I did a band last year called Sights and Sounds that I’m pretty proud of. Not really metal, but the production turned out good and they’re a cool group of guys.
Darkest Hour – Deliver Us and Becoming the Archetype – Dichotomy are both flawlessly produced.
whether you love them or hate their guts..the new Bring Me the Horizon album is very well mixed. the guitar tone is perfect. the electronic elements are stuck in seemlessly, and the bass drum sound (which is a huge problem on a lot of records these days such as After the Burial’s Rareform) is absolutely flawless. Its heavy as well as distinct, as apposed to sounding like little ‘pitter patter’ for lack of a better term.
agree on the rareform bassdrum sound. that was insanely bad. the reissue had a better sound to it though, i guess they changed the samples.
Horns up for Billy Anderson!! \m/
Cattle Decapitation, Cormorant, High On Fire, Melvins, Mr. Bungle, etc.
:-)
Let’s not forget the almighty Neurosis.
Jacob Hansen and Tue Madsen are my favorites. Nobody beats the drum production of Hansen.
Some others…
Logan Mader (the enormous sounding mix on The Way of all Flesh)
Chris “Zeuss” Harris (Shadows Fall, Arsis, Chimaira, God Forbid and countless others)
Yannick St-Amand (all the good Canadian tech-death bands)
Zach Ohren (Decrepit Birth, Suffocation, All Shall Perish)
Jochem Jacobs (self produces Textures’ material. Awesome production on both Drawing Circles and Silhouettes).
Scott Atkins (next big European producer)
Zeuss definitely goes up and down though… his mix for the recent Shadows Fall is great, but he almost ruined We Are The Nightmare for me, far too dry for a technical band, zero bass, clciky drums… not bad production, just inappropriate. A band that tech needs a nice full bottom end to allow the guitars to noodle and tremolo off at their hearts content.
Still, the requests of the bands themselves must have an awful lot to do with it.
Scott Akins is good. Used to be in Stampin’ Ground. Great band.
And (awaits inevitable backlash) I don’t think The Way Of All Flesh sounds that good. Again, too dry and mechanical when compared with From Mars… that is beautiful sounding record.
Agreed on Arsis. A weird mix on that album but generally his production is top-notch.
the production of Silhouettes was excellent, you always find new sounds and never get tired of listening to it
Man, Jacob Hansens drums ARE insane right?!?
That moment in “Redefine Me” when the double kicks just go for it for the first time… orgasmic. Almost literally.
Tyr, Nightrage, Centaurus-A…. I forget how much awesome music he has had a hand in making sound like the end of the world…
Scott is amazing, his work with Sylosis and Ignomious Incarceration was fucking sweet! Also, thanks for including Jochem, have you heard the stuff he’s been doing with French metal band Hord?
Should also add WellerHill to that list, Dan and Justin have a real ear for big sounds!
I will definitely check them out. I would be interested to know how many requests Jochem gets, because he could easily be a full time producer. Scott’s work with Man Must Die was also impressive.
Steven Wilson’s work on Blackwater Park and all the Porcupine Tree stuff blows me away. Also, nods to Kevin Shirley’s job on Falling Into Infinity
Ghost Reveries is absolutely flawless, agreed. But “The Great Cold Distance” by Katatonia (also produced by Bogren) is even flawless-er
I can’t pretend to know much about production but there’s an Australian producer called Forrester Savell who has worked with Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus and Butterfly Effect over there. I think he’s going to be one to watch. The new Karnivool album Sound Awake especially sounds absolutely stunning.
Jamie King- All BTBAM albums, canvas solaris…etc..