Hi everyone,

it's been a while but now my band has released a new single "Boom":

Please, let me know what you think.
Although this is already released I am always looking for improvement.
So, feel free to reply.

Here is the Release Hub: https://music.imusician.pro/a/g57uV1uQ/

Thank you all in advance,
Apex Cordis

 

hell yah! i grew up on metal. In high school i was in a black metal / grindcore band called urethra lol. fun times.

This sounds overall great. Really fun arrangement, i like the incorporation of the choir, and the vocoder. Cool riffs and tones, snappy drums, great lead guitar. The only critique i would offer is the overall mix is a little dark, or flat maybe? Nothing insane, just think it could have benefited from a little sparkle in the top end, some air, a touch of excitement in the upper frequencies.

Other than that, i would have treated the vocals a little differently. Mainly :

Vocoder - too much low end, slightly muddies things up. Or just too rich in harmonic content in general, clashing with the guitars I would have scooped the lows a bit, and likely used a touch of trackspacer / soothe, so they ever so slightly dip the guitars in that frequency range.

Low Vocals (what goes around comes around) - Definitely would have scooped these more, as well as adding some drive, probably a multiband distortion / saturation hitting them in the 4-7k range. After that, i would turn them down a tad.

The response vocals to "what goes around", both the shouting " we will resist" part, and the lead could be 2-3 db louder.

I could just be more accustomed to pop and edm now, but this is how i would approach it. Just a touch brighter, and vocals a bit more scooped, leveled, and forward in the mix.

Overall, excellent work. Creative, heavy, good groove, overall solid mix, just awesome.

Do you guys play out? What sub-genre would you call this?

 

I did not enjoy the fade-out/fade-in at 0:20. I think you could just cut out the entire section after it (0:20-0:35) to get a more cohesive and attention-grabbing song. I don't think a fake build-up with no payoff is a good song opener. It doesn't feel good for the listener. I was getting ready for headbanging and got bitch-slapped instead, lol. And by the time we got to the meat I was no longer interested.

Here are my (harsh, I know) two cents.

 

This draws from so many genres, it needs a new term.

Symphonic Atari Nu-Rapcore

You guys pulled this off really well, kudos!

 

Wierldy, this intro actually makes me more aware rather than expecting the same old thing that happens over and over in songs, maybe mix wise set it up differently so that it still hits, and the next part also get that "upward trajectory" energy wise towards 1:20...oh man, this sounds like philosophy.

Overall i like the song, different parts have their own almost "game like" feel, it is like a game highlights soundtrack(red alert 2). Love the guitars too, choir part, someone has the trap/rap affinity for sure.

Great, GTA sound at the end

 

Hi guys,

thank you all very much for listening and writing (very appreciated). I will try to answer everyone.

@shinyzen:

I will take all your suggestions with me for the next mix. Of course I was really careful with the high-end during mastering. Too much is easily done, but will definitely look at this in particular.
Regarding the vocoders, you are absolutely right. Of course I used masking tools (like trackspacer or soothe) for almost all elements (Bass <-> Drums, Rhythm Guitars <-> Solo Guitars, Vocals <-> overall mix). Otherwise this whole thing would sound like trash. But I guess there is simply too much low-end on the vocoder tracks.
For the other vocals: Yes, this is somehow true. But 2-3 dB is probably too much. Saturation and so on is also there, but I will work on this for future releases.
Yes, we are playing live, whenever someone lets us. We are constantly applying to festivals and clubs. But a lot of smaller clubs have closed or we do not really fit in their thinking (genre-wise). In Berlin (Techno city) it is even more difficult. We also have no booking management (agency) or anything. We try hard to get some, but almost impossible. It is a vicious circle. They are looking for followers, but we can only get some, if we play. Additionally what we will never do: Pay to play (this is just the wrong direction at all and we don't want to accept this). We are all having a daily job and do this just for fun, so there is no need to accept everything.
Subgenre: yes this is always our problem. I mean this one is in the verses something like Cyber Metal. In the Chorus we have some symphonic elements. The rest of the song is sometimes progressive and also Nu Metal. During the solos it is a bit Trash Metal. The funny thing is our next song will be again different. We call it basically "Alternative Metal" but this also tells nothing about the actual style. Our song base is always Metal and then other elements are added. This can be anything. Hip-Hop or Rap influences, electronic/industrial elements, symphonic stuff ... I think we have an own sound (Growling, Shouting and Metal riffs will be always in our songs), but everything else can vary.
Sorry for my long answer, but again thanks for your input and nice words.

@Ak3mi91 & @KORG3R:

Yes, this part is probably questionable. While Ak3mi91 finds it annoying it is raising attention for KORG3R. Honestly this was intentionally done. We had something like Refused "New Noise" in mind. So, basically make the listener think it will soon bang. But then we take a step back and add a relaxing part, before the boom really starts. Additionally, this part is great when playing live. The bass player will be in focus just for some seconds and then whole band kicks in and make the crowd go crazy. This is the Original Mix, so for a Radio/Video edit we could start directly at 0:35. I just love intros and build up things like this, which are not very typical nowadays.

@xorome:

As answered for shinyzen you're right. It is very difficult to define a metal sub genre for us. We tried many years to find a term, but in the end we just label ourselves as "Alternative Metal", as this basically tells nothing regarding the sound. We are definitely not fitting in existing ones.

@KORG3R & @xorome:



Best,
Apex Cordis