Steven Wilson Says ‘Overdriven Metal Sound’ Became Such a ‘Trope’ That It ‘No Longer Sounds Heavy’, Suggests What to Try Instead | Music News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com

Steven Wilson Says ‘Overdriven Metal Sound’ Became Such a ‘Trope’ That It ‘No Longer Sounds Heavy’, Suggests What to Try Instead | Music News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com

Steven Wilson Says ‘Overdriven Metal Sound’ Became Such a ‘Trope’ That It ‘No Longer Sounds Heavy’, Suggests What to Try Instead | Music News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com

What’s the “Modern Metal Sound” Anyway?

So, Steven Wilson talks about that “Overdriven Metal Sound” becoming such a “Trope” that it “no longer sounds heavy”. What do y’all think about that statement right there?

I’ll level with you, whether this is an unpopular opinion or not who cares but…. Here goes:

I dislike the “modern heavy metal tone” you know the one, the 5150 head with the Vintage ’30s rigged up to an SM58 mic for recording, as heard on many records over the last two decades. You can replace the Peavey 5150 with a Mesa Dual Rectifier etc… That is to say, I dislike the setup on its OWN as a standalone, all-in-one band aide for an aspiring guitarist to have to invest in before being able to achieve a mystical and magical “Modern Metal Tone”

Some way’s to stand out from the crowd.

There are many ways to mix up tones in subtle ways to stack up layered guitars that when recorded, even at home, sound MASSIVE.

Try recording double takes with a fuzz pedal set to a wide SAW mode and mess about with the frequencies to give your metal rhythms a boost in the mix and then blend the tracks together. Do this alongside using a “Modern Metal Tone” and by using EQ filters, panning and correct gain staging to create a unique tone, for example.

Another way to achieve unique guitar tones for Metal is to experiment with different microphones when recording. You can blend an SM58 with a Royer ribbon mic or with another “off angle” SM58 off set at 40 degrees (I think?) to give a darker tone when blended with the regular “Off Centre” recording mic. This is known as the Fredrick technique.

Another way would be to try different speaker setups for recording. You can also use IRs, which are prerecorded anyway and stay tuned for a guide to using IRs in your guitar recording and when an IR is easier than direct recording to Mix as a mix engineer. My recommendation to deviate from the V30 sound with speakers is to try some of the Eminence ranges or even the HESU Demon Speaker.

Experiment Yourself!

I might do an update to this post in a while as I’m currently experimenting on girthier tones for maximum Metal and eyeing up some Fuzz effects, filter effects and a digital chorus to bring out those harmonic frequencies we all love so, Stay tuned…

Feel free to leave a comment below to ask me anything or to tell us your Modern Metal Tone Tips!!

Matt Gwinnutt

My name is Matt Gwinnutt and I am a music instructor based in Louth, Lincolnshire in the UK. I teach guitar and music theory. I am currently studying for a BA(Hons) degree in music and RGT diploma in teaching music!