Am I the only one who loves this band, but feels like the drums always sound terrible on their recordings?

Discordia is the worst example, but even this new one (Traitors) has the weekest fucking kick sample ever.

Sounds o.k. enough when he's doing super fast shit, but on the breakdowns, there might as well not even be a kick.

Not to mention the drums are mixed really inconsistantly.

Anyways... always great songs with these guys, but I think that they have yet to get a recording that does them justice.

I think Retalliate and Dissent sound good, but could be better.


Just saying. Still love the band.

I'll also add that, given their overall aesthetic, I'd think they'd go for a real drum sound, and a rawer vibe.

I hope the triggering trend falls by the wayside soon. It's played out. Every drummer sounds the same on DM records now. There's no dynamics to it.

you can get consistency and loudness, and that god awful clicky kick drum without samples. I've done it, and if the drummer can actually play, it sounds much better.

needs to fight disco paul!

I think if a drummer trigger his BD it can still sound good, it's just a matter of what sound he uses, and if he triggers anything else. I think I still manage to get dynamics with my drumming and i trigger my kick. I also use a big ass heavy beater so you can hear my acoustic sound as well.

I think the drums on earlier MI recordings sound considerably better because of one large factor: far superior drumming.

I agree with this completely. The only album by MI which features a drum sound that doesn't make me want to just turn it off, is their first EP. Plus, those songs are just so awesome, Talley was (is) so sweet on them thaangs, and frankly it's the only material by them that has ever had a fighting chance of making it to my iPod.

I agree with this whole-heartedly and its one of the reasons i just CANT get behind the last two MI albums. The drums suck ANY power out of their riffs/grooves which is a shame because Talley set a pretty high standard for that band for me.

Death metal drums need to sound like they're inside a canyon or deep in the catacombs, not in a puffy cyborg studio. They don't have to be lo-fi. But they're supposed to sound like marching to WAR. I have a hard time listening to a lot of modern ultra-tech drums in extreme metal, the new Misery Index is a great example. Awesome album, but I usually skip the songs because the drums sound like wet cardboard boxes.

Triggers are a nice modern invention and a great option to have, but I would rather listen to a loud natural bass drum at half speed if you really have to play at 250 bpm, than a clicky mess from feathery fairy ankles. The new Arsis album comes to mind, Faceless, etc... I don't see the need to use triggers in my playing, doesn't mean I'm a purist or anything, I just prefer the natural sound and the drummer who plays a natural set.

Of course there are some exceptions, the new Absu comes to mind, it's a good hybrid of real bass sound and triggers when he gets too fast. Also Jimbo the way you guys recorded the Boarcorpse drums is a great way to do it. Trigger/natural hybrid is good if you can pull it off.

Another thing - if you play metal, for fuck's sake, if your name isn't Quorthon, why would you put out a recording with a drum machine? Would you really listen to that? I wouldn't.

quoting "feathery fairy ankles"

hahahah...spazzy ankle syndrome?

Very true. One of the main reasons I like Overthrow and Dissent the best.

Talley has sampled tracks too, but it seems like they sample HIS kit, so the the sound actually resembles a drum, and not a "blip" or "click" or whatever.

This new guy has nothing on Talley. The dude that played on Retalliate was awesome too (and I believe, a student of Talley).

I absolutely agree. Triggers can sound pretty cool, when done right, but it's become a default for [most] metal bands, and therefore is overdone.

Admit it, if only a few records came out with triggers, we'd all think it was way cooler, because it would be something different. The fact that fake sounding drums is the norm, is what is weird to me.

Listen to Commit Suicide, or Burnt By the Sun... Real drums! and those records sound vastly better than most others of the same style.

In the case of the last 2 MI records, I can't believe those dudes let that shit fly when they heard the mixes. It's just awful.

Blending the samples with the real thing is also a good compromise.

say what you will about the guy, he's one of my favorite extreme metal drummers and a huge influence on my playing in said genre