Album Rating: 4.5

i listened to this in my car straight after that new darkest hour album with ballou's production and noticed that this was significantly more muddy/less punchy



but after 30 seconds i didn't really find it to its detriment or at least didn't care enough because it just fuckin rules anyway.

Album Rating: 4.0

production is phenomenal wtf

"i listened to this in my car straight after that new darkest hour album with ballou's production and noticed that this was significantly more muddy/less punchy"

all of ballou's stuff hits harder than pretty much all of marston's stuff. ballou is aiming for loud and hard all the time. marston is just matching the production with the music. i'd hate listening to this album with ballou's production tone. it'd sound like garbage.

Album Rating: 4.0

^ this

Albums like this are significantly more enjoyable for me through a good set of cans. I also agree this is definitely the appropriate production for this album.

Album Rating: 4.5

To be clear, I'm not saying Marston's production is bad, I'm not even faulting it, those observations of it being more muddy/less punchy are true in of themselves and like I said, I don't find it to its detriment necessarily.

I'm just curious how specifically Ballou's would be bad? I understand his style is different, but wouldn't it be able to cross genres without a hiccup?

Album Rating: 4.0

I mean he'd mix this just fine, just he wouldn't make it sound like that darkest hour record or his other hardcore/entombedcore projects. riffs and drums on this album and most other tech death albums just wouldn't work with that beefy punchy production

the mix sounds a little boxier than the last album, guitar tone and bass don't have the same "twang" to them as last time. generally think this one is a little less clear than the last one and the production is a little fuller in the low mids which i don't think suits the sound as well. i think that'd be my only real complaint with this album, preferred the previous one a little cus there was slightly more variety between more standard dm and the spacier stuff but really this is very good too

Agreed that the sound's a little more filled out on the bottom end than on their debut but I think that's a good thing personally.

Disagreed that it's "muddy"; sure it's not as clean (read: sterile) as a lot of modern metal but everything is still perfectly audible without sounding too bright or artificial. You and I must have different ideas of what "punchy" means because that super-compressed, distorted Ballou production sounds flat as a tack when played at any volume that won't damage your ears. When I hear the drums on this I almost feel like I'm in the same room as them.

But yeah, different strokes w/e

i like the hm-2 tone Ballou always employs but I've never liked his mastering. Marston I've generally liked for a while now, I just don't like this one as much as the last one.

Jac I very much agree with you on the production. I don't hear muddy at all.

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah this is pretty crisp. Bumped it out my friend's studio monitor set-up and it sounded pretty immaculate tbh

Album Rating: 3.5

Estranged From fucking Orbit

Album Rating: 3.5

No mud at all, crisp as fuck

Album Rating: 4.5

yeah to be fair i shouldn't judge an album on how it sounds through my shitty car speakers with which i listen to most music exclusively. It is a different beast through my studio monitors wowwww

Album Rating: 4.5

Those tortured, howling screams on Static Shuttering paired with that tremolo bullshit is out of this WORLD

Production on this is good, wouldn't call this or the debut "punchy". Wouldn't call this muddy either. Ballou is the worst producer in the underground atm so pls god no never him ever. Marston produces a lot of albums I don't care for but I'll be damned if the production isn't PERF

Marston mixes for a proper dynamic sound. Ballou just wants loud and hard.

I really like the production here but it seems like the bass is a lot lower in the mix compared to the last.

Album Rating: 4.5

it rly slap