Necrobutcher's (Mayhem) or Iscariah's (ex Immortal) tone

VeNoM · #1 08-23-2009, 08:59 AM

Hello!
This is my second post on this forum.
I am recording some songs with my band (we play thrash metal) and I would like to know how to achive similar sound to Necrobutcher's on Chimera, or Iscariah's from Damned In Black (Immortal). I know Necrobutcher plays a Gibson LP bass live, but I don't know what he uses in studio. And I also don't know which amps he uses. I have an Epiphone Thunderbird IV, an ESP LTD B155DX, a Precison bass, and a homede PJ type bass, an Ibanez SW100 amp and Ashdown Drive Plus OD. For recording I use Amplitube Ampeg SVX, so my amp doesn't matter here.
So does anybody know which bass and which amp simulation should I use, or what kind of equipement do I need to achive similar sound

?
This is the sound I am talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLWMwPmW1-k
Thank you!

bongomania · #2 08-23-2009, 09:33 AM

To me it sounds like bright (maybe stainless) roundwounds, low action with lots of fret buzz, played with a pick, scooped mids, and heavy compression. Kind of cool synthy-dirty sound.

Joe Garage · #3 08-23-2009, 10:42 AM

Hi,

It’s the guitar player that plays bass on that album.
Not sure what kind of set up he uses. Sorry!

Sartori · #4 08-24-2009, 03:14 AM

Well, make up your mind. Iscariah's tone and Mayhem bass tone aren't very much alike. Iscariah, ironically, has a much warmer tone. Sorta like Newsted's actually. It's fairly middy, whereas Bongomania noted that Mayhem's sounds more mid scooped.

VeNoM · #5 08-25-2009, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Garage

Hi,

It’s the guitar player that plays bass on that album.
Not sure what kind of set up he uses. Sorry!

Wikipedia says that both Necrobutcher and Blasphemer (solo guitarist) play bass on the album.

@Sartori scooping the mids doesn't help me. Im looking for that raw growly tone which is similar with both Iscariah and Necrobutcher (or Blasphemer).

@Bongomania I used the Digitech Bass Sqeeze, and it didn't help me. Then I used the compresors which are built in Amplitube and the story is the same.

bongomania · #6 08-25-2009, 12:21 PM

I have to ask then, what were you trying to achieve with those compressors? Because they would not and should not provide the growl or raw sound. They are only there to keep the levels consistent, and if you listen to that track you will hear that the breakdown we're talking about has no dynamics whatsoever. It sounds like a synthesizer, the dynamics are so flat.

Also, scooping the mids will not give you rawness or growl either. But I guarantee you his sound included scooped mids. You need to look at all the layers as complimenting each other--no one thing will give you that sound by itself.

Start with the core of the sound. Bright strings, low action with fret buzz, and playing with a pick. You should get at least 80% of the sound that way. Then use the EQ and compression to refine it towards 100%.

Sartori · #7 08-25-2009, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VeNoM

Wikipedia says that both Necrobutcher and Blasphemer (solo guitarist) play bass on the album.

@Sartori scooping the mids doesn't help me. Im looking for that raw growly tone which is similar with both Iscariah and Necrobutcher (or Blasphemer).

@Bongomania I used the Digitech Bass Sqeeze, and it didn't help me. Then I used the compresors which are built in Amplitube and the story is the same.

Iscariah's tone has quite a lot more mids in it than Necrobutcher's/Blasphemer's Chimera tone and not as much in the really high highs. What mids that are present in the Mayhem tone sound like high mids to me, wherea's Iscariah's has heavier middle and low mids presence.

Of course, in both cases, they're using bright roundwound strings.