LOL Beeps, would you believe my thoughts are totally opposite from yours? Hahahaha!
Personally, the only things I would change are the end of the guitar solo tailing on and on and the drum kit could use a little more panning. Hats are a bit too tight, toms don't seem to pan at all, crashes have a bit of a weird tone but it could be the Youtube encoding. Next time, try to post a high quality mp3 so we can really hear the song in all it's glory.
That solo just sounded bad when it was over top of the vocals. So I would have been out when the singer came back in and if it didn't sound right, whoever solo'd needs to learn how to end his phrasing correctly so things mesh together. Solo was cool, arrangement of the solo needs work.
This to me could come right off an early Queensryche/Maiden/Priest type production as is. I don't like the snare sound, but for what it is, it works. Could you add more verb to it and make it bigger? Yeah, but then you're really going for 80's. A little gated verb may have been nice, but I definitely wouldn't have over-done it. I think this is a really good job dude...nothing lept out to me as "wrong". I could give you 100 subjective opinions, but there's no reason to. I liked and accepted it just as it was delivered other than how the solo came out and a little more drum panning.
That said, just for Beepster's head I want to address some of the things he mentioned and why *I* would not go those routes. Not picking on you Beeps...just trying to help you and explain why it may not be a good call and why sometimes you may want to be careful when giving advice. You mean well, but if someone really reads into what you're saying here, some of this stuff could really mess up a mix that in my opinion, is already done pretty well, ya know?
Squishy squashy? What the heck is that? LOL!! You definitely need to explain that a bit better bro before you tell someone to start notching things out. I've been in this field a long time...I never heard that one before nor do I know why notching would help with an already cool sound? Whatever the case, I liked these rhythms a lot. Reminded me a bit of Tesla type guitar tones as well as some of the other cool 80's metal bands I dug. Not sure why he'd need to notch anything or clone the tracks. He has two guitars played independently in stereo...there is no need for cloning or a "HAAS/delaying cloned tracks" effect in my opinion.
This particular song doesn't need guitar layering or modern production layering really. It would kill the entire vibe and sound like he made big guitars for the sake of big guitars....which in turn would be bigger than the rest of the instrumentation. You have to keep instrument sound size in mind with this stuff. Everything sounds like it belongs in the same band on the same song. Nothing is bigger than anything else in my opinion. This is a good sign and a great way to go into a mix in my opinion.
Lead guitar cutting: It doesn't work that way on most 80's productions or any other production to be honest other than most of the bedroom guys. Your rhythm guitars are supposed to cut, your lead is supposed to be warm so the high notes do not pierce the listeners ears. If he matched the cut on the rhythms, the lead sound here would be harsh and abrasive and would blend in with the rhythms.
I feel it is always the better choice to warm up the lead guitars at ALL times because they play high notes that could get on your nerves. When a solo section comes in, you can back the rhythm guitars down a bit so the lead can breathe. When the solo is over, you can increase the rhythms so it doesn't sound like something dropped out. But to me, the last thing you want is a piercing lead guitar. The treble on this was just right to my ears. I just don't like how the solo ended and kept on going on and on. Bad ending choice to my ears...but the tone was definitely acceptable.
Bass was loud and clear to me. Didn't walk on the kick drum at all and had it's own space cut out. This is 80% of most peoples mix battles. He nailed it perfectly to my ears and monitors.
IR's on the whole mix? Well...you could, but it's not something *I* would do. You gotta be super careful placing a full mix in a room Beeps. It can be the death of you as the tailing can be a nightmare. Verb reacts terrible on kick drums, cymbals and bass. In my opinion, if it's not live, don't make it try to sound live and stay away from that stuff, but that's just me. If it's screaming for live sound, record it live, don't try to create a live atmosphere. It's harder than you think. :)
I thought it had a nice glue to my ears. The Console Emulation won't warm it up, it will drive it dirty and that to me, would be the worst thing he could do at this point. Those CE's serve no purpose to my ears and I won't be caught dead using them ever again. I've worked on several consoles my entire life. None of them ever drove the mixes to "dirt" like these things we have. "Warm" is not remotely the term to use for them in my opinion. "Driven sort of like an Aural exciter" is more how I'd describe them...which I don't really need in any of my mixes. But if that works for you...coolnees. :)
Anyway, not picking on you dude even though it may appear I am. I'm just trying to tell you why you may not want to use those ideas. Are they good ideas? Yeah, but you have to consider the song and what's going on. When something sounds good, sometimes less is more. I don't think Trace did a lot here and to me, he didn't need to. He delivered a good, raw rock piece that hits hard and would lose impact in my opinion if it were to be over produced. These particular instrument sounds are the type you grab and produce. However, they can wind up losing impact instead of gaining impact. If you want more impact, sometimes it's best you choose sounds that reflect impact. They are easier to work with than trying to make sounds that lack impact, have more impact, understand?
These are primo 80's type sounds right out of the box. You add excessive verb, it becomes arena rock and well, as much as I liked some of the musicianship in that stuff, the mixes were pretty horrendous and loaded with reverb. I liked this approach he used because of what it DIDN'T have, ya know? It sounded like a band jamming in the studio having fun where none of the instrumentation was fighting with anything else. This to me, is the other 20% of the mixing realm. Dude nailed it to me. Anyway, just wanted to explain things to you in hopes you might see WHY I would be the opposite from you. Knowing you, if I would have just left the "would you believe my thoughts are totally opposite of yours Beeps?" you would have asked me to elaborate, right? LOL! So I figured I would. Again bro, not a bash on you, just me sharing an opinion.
Trace, nice job on this!
-Danny