Rock and Metal Mastering

Once your tracks are mixed, the next stage is to get them mastered. This can really make a massive difference in how your music sounds on different systems. Mastering is the process of defining the sound and cleaning it up, giving you the best modern level without distortion.
Metal and rock music, as with most commercial music has suffered in dynamics through a loudness war..
It looks like that may not change, but worth remembering there is a volume knob on a hi-fi or ipod!. - The more music is 'Pushed' and 'squashed' the more distortion is introduced!. Metallica fans reacted to the album Death Magnetic by demanding it was re-mastered due to the level of distortion and lack of dynamics. It was harsh and one-dimensional and not very musical. Read the article here.
Radio play goes through various compression and eq before being broadcast and a track not 'levelled' can sound better and more punchy and will not actually be any quieter than an ott loud mastered track.
A mastering engineer has usually got plenty of years of experience and of course, good ears, and the right tools for the job. In addition to listening, there are further plug-ins that enable the engineer to visually see the waveforms and make judgments as to how much top/bottom to roll off and also remove any obvious aggressive frequencies that can be fatiguing when listening to a complete album.

ALL Saints Of Eden tracks are mastered here.

The latest job I have mastered is the Stuka Squadron album 'Tales of the Ost'.
This Rock album was recorded over 3 years in various studios, some programmed drums, some not, with different engineers and performers contributing to the parts. The supplied files varied a lot in dynamics, bit-rate and quality. It was my job to pull it all together and get the best out of the songs, making the album have a consistency throughout, so no song stood out sonically as different and the album flowed comfortably.

If your band / Label produces Metal or Rock music and you require mastering, it may be worth getting in touch. I can do a sample for you first before you make any decisions.
For a straight master of a track please email it over using yousendit.com or similar larger file sending service.
Cost is £50 per track. Consider if it may be worth me mixing the track first?
Gear includes Zen Console, Maselec MLA-2, Avalon compressors, SSL audio converters, various professional plug-ins, Genelec & Ns10M moniors .

Examples in players
Original files have been 'Normalized' to try and make it a fairer comparison.
Files have been converted to 256 kbps MP3's to make internet streaming quicker.

Stuka Squadron
1. Stuka Squadron
2. Lovecraft
3. We drink blood