Pro Mixer Reacts to METALLICA - Lux Æterna

[@Gladicuss]

You have to do more of these videos, I learned so much watching you think on your feet and explain it. You sir , well Loved every minute of this. Great video, and yes read your comments, do more of these. Don't go off the deep end with it but add these time to time, we learn a lot! Thank you, wishing you happiness and health with your loved ones through the holiday season.

[@tweakthatproductions1648]

I found this on Wikipedia. For this song & upcoming album it’s on. Production Greg Fidelman - production, mixing, recording Sara Lyn Killion - engineering Jim Monti - engineering Jason Gossman - additional engineering, digital editing Kent Matcke - assistant engineering Dan Monti - digital editing Bob Ludwig - mastering

[@miracleofsound]

The kick sounds like someone flicking a post-it note.

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

Would you like to see more reaction videos like this?? Let me know in the comments! And go grab your free Mixing Cheatsheet at hardcoremusicstudio.com/mixcheatsheet

[@andynfb1]

💪🏼

[@mrcoatsworth429]

Yes! Do something like Rick Beato, where he reacts to the Top 10 songs. But instead, you could analyse specifically the biggest metal song at the time every month or so.

[@atomicsun72]

Yes, these videos are cool and I'd definitely watch more if you make them

[@andresalvador1494]

🤘

[@loudmindpro8864]

Yes. This was very interesting, educational, and entertaining. I would watch all of these.

[@valentinzwick5408]

Greg produced and mixed the thing. I actually like the kick - sounds nice and wet and a bit reminiscent of the load kick sound.

[@jeffbridges6110]

That's actually a refreshing mix. A blend of old and new sounding. I've never really been a Metallica fan though. I think the bass guitar could have cut through just a touch more. But I like this mix.

[@szmryb]

wait till you hear about and justice for all

[@christovalcruz348]

Great review Jordan, please do more mix reviews in the future. It helps shed light on different mix philosophies and nuances other mixers use in the industry, very helpful! 10/10

[@endlichjura]

Would love you do more of this kinda videos / really helpful!

[@RickyMackie]

Great mix! Pushed some boundaries with that kick sound for sure, sounds great. Gives the kick an almost shaker/hi hat roll than just low end roll. Love the call back to early/mid 80’s thrash and punk rock but with a modern sound.

[@BeatsAndMeats]

What jumped out for me was that bell brass snare! I got a Tama Bell Brass Reissue and it does the thing. It was ridiculously expensive but oh man is it easy to mix. The balance between low end thump and high end attack is just perfect. If you do a good job of nulling out hihats and cymbals when recording, you dont need the super obvious gunshot snare sample to get it to slam through the mix. You should do more of these reviews, this was a lot of fun!

[@nelis2burn]

Please do more of these videos! I've learned so much just watching this 9 minutes clip. You explain it very well and it's nice to see a decent comment video from a unbiased producers perspective. Keep up the good work!

[@ryanwayne5052]

I would love more of this series! It was really cool to hear our initial thoughts were somewhat reflective, allowing me to feel more confident in my own ears perception, but also hearing things you may point out that I might not have noticed. Either way awesome video, thanks for sharing!!

[@alienhalfbreed1301]

Hopefully Metallica is finally setting the trend back to more naturally sounding mixes.

[@keltonhammer165]

Please do more of these! Love it! Super beneficial for us mixers. As an avid Metallica fan, the kick drum has always had that extra volume/snap on the downbeat. I think it is just the way Lars plays

[@KevinDubois]

It is the way Lars plays, but it's also emphasized in this mix with careful attention to volume automation

[@hauntedhotdog]

Lars' drum sound is always pretty unique, and the kickdrum here reminds me a bit of the Load/Reload era, and honestly I really like how the whole kit sounds. The kickdrum is really hard hitting and aggressive, and while I am not especially impressed with the actual song itself, I think the production sounds really good. Much better than their last two records.

[@rome8180]

I agree. Way better production. And yeah, sort of bland song. But honestly, I think a lot of that blandness is in the vocal melody and vocal production. The riffs and playing are cool.

[@Paulshaggy]

i think drums or at least double kick is programmed here

[@thrashmetal00]

@Pavel Blacktown wrong..

[@hauntedhotdog]

@@Paulshaggy definitely not

[@Kyp031]

Lars sucks. Lol

[@raygringo]

I've been saying for years that most modern metal mixes are too dark and often are vastly overcompressed (parallel compression abused). Not to mention the technically great but boring rhythm guitar sounds that do not reach out and bite my face off. Metal mixes have gotten too polite and often times don't serve the song's intended aggression. Not to mention the out-of-control editing that goes on, which can really strip the humanity right out of the song. I really appreciate you seeing (and pointing out) the value of this tune's performance and engineering.

[@samchoate1719]

100%

[@connyjohnson855]

Dead on!

[@rebelofbabylon3091]

Most drummers dont even record drums, they just program it all now. I understand why they do it, less hassle and cost effective with studio time but it's lazy and it shows how bad of a drummer they actually are and you can hear it on the recording and you can see it when they attempt to play it live. People can gripe all they want about Lars but at least he still plays the damn drums on record.

[@alessandrosummer]

@@rebelofbabylon3091 unfortunately in Saint Anger they were all replaced by shitty sounding samples. I don't already appreciate sample replacement (I'd rather blend them with the live drum kit, like Jordan does) but those sounds were fucking awful

[@stephane370]

Great video ! Metallica Lux Æterna Credits : Producer : Ulrich Hetfield Greg Fidelman Composer : Hetfield Ulrich Lyricist : Hetfield Ulrich Additional Engineer : Jason Gossman Associated Performer : Hammet Trujilo Ulrich Hetfield Assistant Recording Engineer : Kent Matcke Editor : Jason Gossman Dan Monti Engineer : Jim Monti Sara Lyn Killion Mastering Engineer : Bob Ludwig Mixer : Greg Fidelman Studio Personnel : Dan Monti Sara Lyn Killion Jim Monti Kent Matcke Jason Gossman Bob Ludwig Greg Fidelman

[@MetaITurtle]

The heavy drum kick on the down beat is something he started doing on AJFA

[@antonionevone7320]

Here on YT the official Metallica audio release reports: Producer, Studio Personnel, Mixer: Greg Fidelman Studio Personnel, Engineer: Sara Lyn Killion Studio Personnel, Engineer: Jim Monti Studio Personnel, Additional Engineer, Editor: Jason Gossman Studio Personnel, Asst. Recording Engineer: Kent Matcke Studio Personnel, Editor: Dan Monti Studio Personnel, Mastering Engineer: Bob Ludwig

[@DankoHidalgo]

6:23 "At the end of the line". Nice.

[@erikl6988]

This mix is a lot like their last album Hardwired except a maybe a bit more bright. They're all 60 years old, so they probably pushed for a brighter sound (trouble with high frequencies and all that)

[@nenntmichbond]

what, because they didn't change their strings in 60 years?

[@kylerferrill8252]

Hearing loss

[@gergonikk]

Yes this is mixed by Greg Fidelman who's done everything with them since Death Magnetic in 2008. Also check out the last album Hardwired, the kick sound here is nothing new for them

[@marianlech3378]

Sorry Sir, I believe you mean AFTER Death Magnetic?

[@sheldonswan45]

@@marianlech3378 Greg engineered Death Magnetic and also helped mix it. (Edit: Metallica’s website shows Fidelman as engineer and mixer)

[@nickanthony4979]

Andrew scheps mixed death magnetic. Fidelman engineered it.

[@tisbonus]

@@nickanthony4979 Correct!

[@metallicafan3124]

I assume it was also Greg who mixed. Seeing as he produced and mixed the last album, and they're recording in their HQ with him producing again.

[@mrcoatsworth429]

The loud down beats on the kick are definitely also in Lars' playing. He gets a lot of shit, but I think this is pretty cool. Another drummer who did this was Clive Burr on the first Iron Maiden albums. It's especially apparent on The Number of the Beast.

[@jimsmith4548]

Lars "get's a lot of shit" because it's popular to hate on him, even though he is a more-than-solid heavy metal/rock drummer. Jealously is an ugly thing. Common link between all dudes who hate on Metallica's drumming: their own bands have almost always never even been heard of, nor WILL they be. 🤷😜

[@mrcoatsworth429]

@@jimsmith4548 Bad argument. Most amazing musicians have never been heard of by the majority of people. And simply being popular doesn't make one exempt from criticism. Example: Do you like Justin Bieber?

[@iurigrang]

Tbf, as much as he probably did hit harder on the downbeat, this kick is so compressed there's no way in hell that's what we're hearing. It's very likely automation following the dynamics that got cut off by the processing.

[@billyhughes9776]

Really enjoyed your evaluation of this mix. You should do more of this for other, new mixes that come out. Thanks Jordan.

[@phadrus]

How clicky that cake was until you mentioned it. It reminds me of the And Justice For All kick, but with more bottom overall I like the sound, and I think it’s a good mix of raw and solid modern production.

[@Fexiheit]

Love these reaction videos to other mixes :) please more of that :)

[@harleybenton6805]

Still the most honest and finest mixing content!

[@KaoticstudiosCo]

I'd looove more videos like this. Great job.

[@MariJu1ce]

Get tidal! Credits are almost always there! And it sounds much better than spotify. You can really hear the spotifys compression once you switch back. The credits said greg fidelman mixed it btw

[@Zardox-The-Heretic-Slayer]

on headphones, that kick is so loud that it feels like it's coming from the centre of your head (not in a good way), I like the bright kick and the mix in general but the kick just needs to come down a tiny bit. I think my favorite mix by any metal band is Archspire latest album.

[@goddamntheband]

Great analysis. We have to remember that brave decision about the kick may have come from the band, often mix engineers will play it safe and an artist will be the one with the mad idea, with no concept of “the rules” . Either way, hats off, sounds great, fantastic midrange and sounds way better on small speakers compared to modern metal records where the guitars simply disappear with scooopage

[@allyemeraart]

that "kick on the downbeat is louder" thing has pretty well been a staple of Lars's drum sound since hell, Justice really, but it super started to stand out around Load/ Reload. It's not even purely editing, it's just how lars plays. Idiosyncrasies are good

[@alessandrosummer]

As a guy said in another comment, the drums were compressed so we're not probably hearing the original dynamics, instead we hear the volume automation that attempted to recreate the dynamics of Lars playing

[@resington]

Lars had an almost identical kick sound on Hardwired. Yet people are only noticing it now haha. Great video man.

[@theAshesofDecember1]

First time I heard the track I was like….holy crap that kick is bright. Almost piercing

[@gizmo359c]

They're probably sidechain compressing the reverb channel on the vocal so it ducks down while he's singing and gets louder on the tails.

[@Charlyfromthenuclearcity]

Yes, sounds like it !

[@alessandrosummer]

I think that too, that's a great technique!

[@jeffsnider9869]

You can also hear the automation on the kick treble go up just for the blast beat sections. It’s way noticeable in a car over the radio

[@coreystopperan9555]

Love this Jordan!! Deconstruct more!!!

[@rhythmcave2982]

Great idea for a video. Very instructional and practical. More please! Different genres as well.

[@RustyWrightBandofficial]

Nice Critique of the overall. It gave me some new insights into my own mixes. I will be doing a lot of experimenting with some of my stuff using these points as a model. Thanks Jordan!

[@alessandrosummer]

I think they may have used sidechain compression on the delay/reverb auxiliary channel, so that it ducks the wet signal when the lead vocal is happening and then releasing it when the lead vocal is not going

[@rotek824]

This is the way music should be done. Energy, clarity, authenticity and vibe. We lack that in new 'modern' mixing and recording style. 70% of new metal Records sound too similar, not to mention being totally overedited and overcompressed.

[@J.D.0502]

Great Analysis - Thank you so much!! Keep it up!!!

[@WhirlwindDrums]

I really love the analysis videos you make. Thank you so much once again for making awesome production videos

[@raybeeger1529]

Sounds great! It goes more in old school metal direction. Nice!

[@endlichjura]

Very interesting kick sound for sure. Seems as if it basically has all the hi-mids cut from it so all that’s left are highs and lo-mids.

[@victorloquendoful]

exists some trick to the kick drum attack with neve 1073 in the 7.2k band, andrew scheps metioned it was used in the death magnetic, he and greg fidelman mixed death magnetic, and this album was mixed entired by greg fidelman like hardwired, maybe its the same trick

[@krustdogg131]

Have you listened to st. Anger? You should listen and tell us what you think of the snare! All jokes aside the black album is sonically very good and still sounds awesome

[@trzejbolkowie8010]

Znakomicie pozostawione miejsce na powietrze. Bass gra dołem i go wypełnia. stopa gra wyższym dołem, przez co nie zabiera energii w dole. Znakomite nowoczesne miksowanie. To już jest trend nowoczesnego miksu. Taki miks dobrze brzmi i w jakości HiFi jak też na Iphonie lub 1 mm głośnikach komputera. Brawo!!! Rafał Poland

[@JaggedDagger]

Rob compliments Lar's kick pretty well imo. The kick is definitely the focus and drive of the song

[@ВиталийДомогацкий-д8ф]

It sounds GREAT! Both: in shure940 and in phone dynamic!

[@SerenadeRhythms24]

The mix sounds great! I believe it was mixed by Greg Fidelman and few other assistant engineers.

[@Vanes-NL]

I'd like to see more videos like this! A lot more.

[@mudcast]

Yes.

[@robertsteinberger]

Wow I learned a lot more than I'd expected here!

[@philippgrunert8776]

I really dig the guitars production on this song

[@kylegrossi8175]

Cool video. Wouldn't mind seeing a few more like this. Lars's drum sound hasn't changed much since ..And justice for all. In particular the kick or kick sample.

[@strakhovmixing]

Very interesting video, we're need more such videos!) I've never been a Metallica fan, but this mix sounds good.

[@metalzonereactions]

Cool reaction, I think they did a good job of going for a more modern but also old school sound, which would seem to be opposites but it works

[@renelamerain9411]

Great insights Jordan. Btw, i´m pretty sure Greg is involved in production, recording and mixing.

[@leearmitage]

great video, since I've been mixing I find myself analysing songs too much at times haha

[@insan7]

Great video! Please, more!

[@nikht0]

Mix sounds good. What's really impressive though have been the mixes for the live videos they've been releasing on KZbin this past year. Same mixer?

[@tordurhansen333]

I'm told that Greg did indeed mix the thing.

[@yurita1984]

"Relead"s kick! But a little bit more highs

[@billesposito2112]

I love the vocal sound . Vocals sit in the mix beautifully . EQed perfectly in my opinion. I think he uses a 7B. I know he was using one recording the album in the documentary where he went to rehab and they got that new Bass player. When they told the new Bass player he got the gig they handed him a check for a million$ for some walking around cash. Hahahaha the dude was broke before he went to try out. Good for him . Seems like a good dude and he seemed like a good fit. I don't listen to Metallica anymore . I stopped in high school . I think the last album I listened to was Master of Muppets!. Early 80's they were huge. I was into Savatage too. I played with them in Hartford Ct. My tastes are so far from that now. What's your main Vocal mic? I just bought a Mojave MA-300 . Holy Shit I love this Mic. Perfect frequency response for my voice .No more mid range EQ battles for me. Thanks for the great info on audio production. I used your EQ spread sheet with the vocal frequency suggestions. They are on the money. One of the best vocal sounds I got using a Sm7B. Haven't tried it with the Mojave yet . That thing is perfect with just the bass roll off engaged . Thanks again.

[@cpottervlog8122]

Wikipedia says Fidelman mixed it as well

[@andrewantczak4637]

That kick!

[@JCrockguitar]

You mentioned that the vocals are pretty wet while still being present, and that the reverb/delay tails are especially evident after the dry vocal ends. You said this could be that they automated the tails louder to fill in the space. Is it also possible that the vocals were sent to a compressor after the reverb and delay in the processing chain?

[@alessandrosummer]

I think it's more likely they used sidechain compression on the delay/reverb bus to duck the wet signal when the dry signal is playing, that's a great technique

[@davejohnsonmusic]

Do more of these reaction videos every once in a while, if you have time.

[@AuteriaWWinzerJr]

What is the Integrated LUFS? It sounds like it is between 8 to 9 LUFS with -1.0 TP.

[@1987Devo100]

Loved the video, where is the snare?

[@Mike-ol7xp]

Some older bands aren't striving to be 100% on the grid and stick completely in the box. Just wondering how many big signed bands you worked for?

[@SofoniBeats]

I would have thought spiking up the drums would mess up the mix....nice and clean while groundbreaking as usual

[@juncando]

Song reminds me of mix between Right next door to hell by GNR and Slave to the grind by Skid Row.

[@dillardo]

Overkill wants their riff back. Lol.

[@defentlynothere]

Metallica = perfectionist. (My op) Great video

[@guitarplayalongs]

Hey Jordan, thanks for the video. No comment on the kick edit mess at 05:27 (time stamp of your video, not the song) ?

[@NedJeffery]

My first thought when I heard this song was the kick sounds like a snare, and the snare sounds like a kick. It's ridiculous.

[@kaiulrich6185]

I guess, they have a compressor on the reverb, triggered by the vocal to achieve that effect.

[@ForTiorIJohnny]

great video. you gotta do one on To The Hellfire by Lorna Shore. i find there´s so much you can learn from that song.

[@theopinson3851]

To me the imperfections of the guitarplaying clash with the overly robotic drums (which are either programmed or time aligned to death).

[@tapary]

I blame Lars for the kick sound, hahaha. He ALWAYS does something wacky in the mixing stage of Metallica albums. For the album Hard Wired, the kick side-chaining made me feel like I was have a stroke.

[@ronaldirawan3643]

Xtreme, New Album. I want to hear your opinion

[@sagarchawla8145]

It resembles me a lot with "Psycho - breaking Benjamin". Give it a quick listen if you haven't

[@danymalsound]

Can we also take a moment to discuss how all these metal masters from the past 25 years are clipping in the meters? I don't know if that contributes to how good they sound, but it's pretty consistent across the board. Cheers!

[@YoyomaG6]

I really wished it wasn't so mid/high range. I really want to hear more low end on the BD and a bit more of the bass, but I believe that would make it too loud.

[@primalcxx]

Fidelman mixed it. Drummer hitting harder on the downbeat is naturally how drummers play... and they more than likely decided not to sample replace or augment

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

There's definitely samples in there

[@empiar5481]

@@hardcoremusicstudio definitely, but that commenter is saying they didn’t just REPLACE the kick with samples. Which surprisingly many people are accusing Metallica of doing, because the drumming is too good lol.

[@tisbonus]

@@empiar5481 Well, that's what you said. The original comment stated there were none, which is incorrect.

[@WhitestarsRx]

Only the label (Blackened) is known, he has all the rights. Does anyone have insider information who is the mix engineer?

[@seamusmcsorley7638]

Pretty good mix, but does anyone else hear that one ringing frequency in the left crash? It's driving me nuts

[@groundloop84]

metoo 😂 other than that, i’m very happy with the sound :)

[@georgepelekoudis]

Up next on reactions “And Justice for All” 😂

[@tiadiad]

Hey, great video! And I'm just going to throw this out there, but I don't expect anything to come of this. I'd love to hear your opinion of the mix on the new album by Clark 'Sus Dog'. He's one of my favorite musicians, and there is a level of professionalism in sus dog which I haven't heard from him yet. In any way, if you do listen to it, hope you enjoy it, and you have an awesome channel! Stay cool!

[@cliffanderson7544]

I not a huge fan of the new Metallica stuff, But I will say I like not perfect bette. IMO thats what has wrecked modern metal and music in general. I think the mix is killer on this track. Sounds pro to me.

[@MrNickDrummer]

I forgot to ask in my previous comment - what's the brand/model headphones you use?

[@swapticsounds]

To be honest, when you said it´s a compromise between a guy playing guitar and still being "competitive", I had an ungood feeling. Music is not about competition, and many people just don´t want anything coming from this sub-complex understanding of "perfection" in art. Tightness in pitch and rhythm is always in relation to a chosen reference system, be it 12edo (normal piano tuning) or a 4/4 rhythm grid. You can deviate from it on purpose and this can be absolutely "perfect" in its own right, or you can also have a different reference system, such as complex JI-intervals, 17edo or Bohlen-Pierce regarding to pitch or quintuplets or septuplets regarding to rhythm. The 4/4 grid or the 12edo grid is not the only reference system in which you can technically compete, and, more important, art is not about competition but individual expression, and QUALITY in music cannot be described or achieved by a quantitative system based on maths or algorithms. Please understand this and make other music producers understand, because this competitive mindset which many producers seem to have leads to sacrilegs such as applying autotune to Freddie Mercury or other exceptional artists, and they don´t even shy away from doing this nonconsensually and post-mortem. Many listeners find quantized drums and autotuned vocals or ultracompressed mastering (loudness war) boring or even annoying.The competition regarding to this is something in the music industry where the listeners are not even asked what they like. The loudness war destroyed so much individual dynamics of music, these shapes are just gone once a final mix got compressed and you cannot bring it back. The same is with a vocal track once it got straightened by Melodyne or with the swag of a drum or guitar rhythm. Please don´t do that. You eliminate a lot of information which once was the individual expression of a band when you apply these standardized processing. Rock music or jazz doesn´t have to "compete" with trap or plastic pop. No wonder that nobody is interested in rock anymore when it is castrated from its raw energy and authentic expression. There might be a market for algorithmic robot-sex too, but it´s actually not what people want, is it?

[@jond.2868]

I politely ask: Who introduced you to Metal? Before you were a Recording Engineer.

[@mandubien]

This kick drum is totally messed up!! Probably a decision from Lars who said «brighter » 10 times lol. But besides that kick, yeah I do really like the mix! Snare sounds fantastic as well as the vocals

[@MelomanTheNerd]

Solid take on new Met, for sure. However, that Lars kick, to me, is not the brightest one this year. Check out Smashing Pumpkins' new-ish single, "Beguiled" for an over-the-top bright (harsh) kick sound. It's nice, for those that are fans, to finally have an audible kick outside of a 3-way system, but whatever happened on the Kick bus was severely over compensated on the SP track ... imo. New Met still sounds well balanced!

[@TheThundersturm]

You've got a great ear!

[@rome8180]

The only thing I don't like about this song is how wet the vocals are. That's the part that felt like a departure from classic Metallica. They felt more "distant" and less "aggressive" than I prefer. Beyond that, for someone like me who isn't a fan of modern metal, this kind of recording with a little humanity preserved is refreshing. The idea that they only get away with it because they're Metallica is depressing to me. I have to think there's a market out there for music that sounds like it's played by humans. It's not like this is sloppy in any way. If you compare it to anything from the '90s or '80s, it's pristine.

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

I agree, I would like a dryer vocal. I don't think they get away with the sloppiness because they're Metallica. Like I said, I'm not a Metallica fan, I have barely listened to anything they've done before. So I'm reacting to this as a modern listener who is used to pristine modern productions... and I'm totally ok with it. I think they found the sweet spot.

[@LoveItDirtyOffroad]

Im a hack. 🎧🤘”IMPERIALICIOUS” by “WE SUCK AS HUMANS”🤘🎧 Rock it out!