Ok, so I finally re-tracked the drums after working on the sound for long while.  There's still a lot of reflection in the room and it's going to take more room treatment to improve the sound.  But this is the best I can get right now.  
 
The last time I posted this I received a lot of feedback on the hot snare.  I've worked on that and it's more difficult than I imagined to lower its volume compared to the toms and bass drum.  It's not totally there, but it's better.  I think the drums, in general, are hot and they are meant to be.  
 
Turn it up loud...it's rock for crying out loud!   No Offense (The Darkening) Updated 8/29/16
 
 

Man, that snare needs to be a little hotter......I keed, I keeed, keed.
 
I'm very impressed with your musicianship and songwriting skills......very good stuff Tim.
I listened to this 3x and compared it to the original version on Youtube (glad you kept that up there). I have to say the original version is much more open and better sounding than this one. The newer version seems a bit overly compressed to my ears, so please take my opinion with a grain of salt.
 
The previous version had more highs and openness to it....which I really like. I would've liked to hear the guitars more up front and the overall drums (ever so slightly) lowered a notch or two.  
 
Very good stuff you have here......giving it another listen (coz I do like it).    
 
 

I didn't hear the original, but this is an impressive tune with impressive musicianship looking to escape from an unimpressive mix.  At times the drums seem to overwhelm the rest of the track.  Also, like Mesh said about the compression.  I'd also suggest getting the vocals up.  I think you've got a winner here... just need to get that mix down.

enjoyed it....good tight stuff all around...with my cans (Tascam)...sounds really good and balanced to my liking.   Vocals could come a small amount to the front...though maybe ok on monitos/speakers other than cans.....i gotta try that another time....not setup at moment for that (setting up new studio in a spare bedroom.....lost my bigger space :o( ) 
Thx for share ....

Mesh
Man, that snare needs to be a little hotter......I keed, I keeed, keed.
 
I'm very impressed with your musicianship and songwriting skills......very good stuff Tim.
I listened to this 3x and compared it to the original version on Youtube (glad you kept that up there). I have to say the original version is much more open and better sounding than this one. The newer version seems a bit overly compressed to my ears, so please take my opinion with a grain of salt.
 
The previous version had more highs and openness to it....which I really like. I would've liked to hear the guitars more up front and the overall drums (ever so slightly) lowered a notch or two.  
 
Very good stuff you have here......giving it another listen (coz I do like it).    
 
 

 
 
Thanks Mesh.  When you say "much more open" and "more highs and openness to it" are you talking about the drums specifically, or the tune as a whole?  
 
Because one of things I did, among many, was to narrow the stereo spectrum on the drum track to 50% Left and Right, whereas the original drum track was pushed full 100% L & R.  (I record left and right channels out of the mixer to two mono tracks, one selected on the left channel, the other on the right channel, so I can control the panning).  
 
I also tried to tame the highs trying to get that hi-hat lowered in the mix - I don't like the hats being as loud as the snare, never have.  
 
I wonder if that crushed the openness a little bit?  
 

philz
I didn't hear the original, but this is an impressive tune with impressive musicianship looking to escape from an unimpressive mix.  At times the drums seem to overwhelm the rest of the track.  Also, like Mesh said about the compression.  I'd also suggest getting the vocals up.  I think you've got a winner here... just need to get that mix down.

Much appreciated feedback here.  So I'll work on the mix, take another look at the compression and maybe drop the drums a bit.  I really like a pounding punchy drum drive, but there's always a limit and maybe I've passed it. Thanks, muchly.  
 

BASSJOKER
enjoyed it....good tight stuff all around...with my cans (Tascam)...sounds really good and balanced to my liking.   Vocals could come a small amount to the front...though maybe ok on monitos/speakers other than cans.....i gotta try that another time....not setup at moment for that (setting up new studio in a spare bedroom.....lost my bigger space :o( ) 
Thx for share ....

Thanks for listening and commenting.  I do trend toward buried vocals.  
 
 
 

Updated mix, thanks for the feedback. 
 
Widened the stereo spectrum on the drums and backed off on the compression and this did a lot for the mix, I think.  Not sure I have the mix down to philz's expectation but this is the best my ears can do. 

Even better now....after 2nd listen of V2 .... my vote is I think its complete  :o)....an awesome song man....really dig it ....reminds me of earlier days ...good stuff....great job...thx ! 

Voda La Void
 
Thanks Mesh.  When you say "much more open" and "more highs and openness to it" are you talking about the drums specifically, or the tune as a whole?  
 
 

Both.......the tune and drums aren't as "squashed" in V1 and seems to "breathe" a lot easier (BTW, I'm listening through h-phones). I'm still liking your V1 over V2 (I'm comparing with both videos open and alternating playing one at a time).
Also Tim, at the 38 sec mark and around 2:20, that little guitar part seems to be a bit louder than the rest of the mix.
 
Not taking anything away from this (IMO) really good song/performance and this is all just my subjective opinion. Good stuff!! Enjoyed it again this morning......with a cup of coffee. :)  
 
 
 
 
 
 

Well done! Love the mid-rangy lightly-distorted vocals. I had a hard time hearing the kick, though. The bass also gets a bit lost in places, too. And I'm listening on bass-hyped ATH-M50s. Knock 2-3dB off the snare and pull up the kick by the same amount. Just nit-picks, though. Good production overall.

listening on my 2in1 and it sounds good. cool arrangements,