Quote:
Originally Posted by machetemonkey
I'll check out some of these bands. See, I'm the opposite on Behemoth. I love Blackened Death, ESPECIALLY when it's polished. To me, the level of polish makes it easier to appreciate all of the musicianship as opposed to when it's just unrefined noise (EDIT: I don't mean to imply that it's "just noise," as it's obviously the same music I merely meant that I listen for musicality, and that's easier to notice when the production is cleaner). I mean, I appreciate all these bands, but I prefer the ones that put a lot of effort into decent production.
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It's not just a question of effort, though. The production has to fit the style of music. Not all styles of metal sound better when they have higher production values, crisper tones, and have melodies that jump out of the mix.
Take for instance Infernal Stronghold. Their first LP was recorded in a rather nice studio, and their second was recorded with only 11 mics being played "live." Their second sounds far better, as it fits their "raw" style of blackened crust/thrash. I know the guy who mixed/mastered their second album, and it's not that he just works better with lower production values. He has a really clean, high-end production on his (formerly solo) project, Woe, and that sounds great because it fits the style of black metal he plays in Woe.
I tend not to like the really polished styles of black and blackened metal (with some exceptions such as Woe, Shining (Swe), Vreid, etc.). I usually gravitate towards the raw, dirty, and ugly varieties (like Darkthrone, Iskra, Infernal Stronghold, Ork Bastards, etc.).