Agree. Especially since the advent of drop tuned 7 and 8-string guitars.
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Heavy Metal Without BASS
- Thread starter jeffmensch
- Start date
Agree. Especially since the advent of drop tuned 7 and 8-string guitars.
The bass still plays a role in those bands who play in Drop G# or whatever. Plenty of good bassists out there in those genres. How big of a role depends on the songwriting and how much space the guitarists leave, but there's still a difference with or without bass even with two hack guitarists chugging on open low strings the whole time.
The bass is necessary, there's no disputing that. That being said, the bands where the rhythm guitar parts are just pounding power chords, mask the bass much more than say, the Iron Maiden Trooper example above. Maiden has much more going on in their melodies, and the bass has to be there to fill out the low end.
Some of these newer bands have layer upon layer of de-tuned 7 and 8+ string guitars, and the bass gets completely lost.
Some of these newer bands have layer upon layer of de-tuned 7 and 8+ string guitars, and the bass gets completely lost.
It's totally mix dependent. Look at Mudvayne in the old days, they were playing with guitars tuned to C and you could hear every note Ryan Martinie was getting out of that Thumb BO 5. Listen to some of Cannibal Corpse's stuff played on 7 strings tuned down a whole step to A, you can still hear Alex Webster crystal clear.
There's plenty of metal on 6 string guitars tuned to E standard and you can't hear the bass at all, normally because it's doubling the guitars which themselves are mixed way louder than the bass, the bass has a thickening effect on the sound but it becomes very difficult to separate out the actual bass tracks by ear.
Although I don't listen to metal all that often now, it annoys me in metal music when I hear a little moment where they boost the bass volume right up for a special part, maybe a bar or two at the most, then drop it right back down when the guitars come back in. I don't get this trend for 99.99% bands to mix their albums to the point where the bass becomes indistinct, guitars can sound tight and sharp, the kick can sound powerful and the bass can be distinct and audible. Maybe it just takes a bit more nouse than most producers and mixing engineers can muster.
There's plenty of metal on 6 string guitars tuned to E standard and you can't hear the bass at all, normally because it's doubling the guitars which themselves are mixed way louder than the bass, the bass has a thickening effect on the sound but it becomes very difficult to separate out the actual bass tracks by ear.
Although I don't listen to metal all that often now, it annoys me in metal music when I hear a little moment where they boost the bass volume right up for a special part, maybe a bar or two at the most, then drop it right back down when the guitars come back in. I don't get this trend for 99.99% bands to mix their albums to the point where the bass becomes indistinct, guitars can sound tight and sharp, the kick can sound powerful and the bass can be distinct and audible. Maybe it just takes a bit more nouse than most producers and mixing engineers can muster.
Well said!!! I'm tired of basses getting sank in the mud with too much crap burying it! 3 piec bands are the absolute most distinct sound but honestly you should be able to get 20 pieces to all be heard and still have a certain clarity. Its all about the equipment and the numbskull doing the eq on the sound board. Some people get it and some just suck. Its an art form too. A good sound man or woman.. changes everything!
I went to a Slayer show last year and the sound was amazingly clear, Araya's bass guitar sound was massive. So you need to go see some f'ing Slayer!
As mentioned above In some bands the bass is there to thicken the rhythm guitar so when your hear the guitar part but no bass you’re actually hearing the two fused if that makes sense. The is especially true if the bass has no different lines from guitar.
Metal bassists have that "clanky" sound that gets eaten by guitars most of the time. Think of this bass sound (lol this is such a weird mix, bass is way louder than everything else):
That’s because D.D. Verni is one of the main song writers! I feel that bassists wrote more songs and have more prominent leadership roles in metal bands, at least compared to other genres. May be my perception, though.
I think he proved the opposite point, i like the cuts bassless. Sounds interesting, although a tad thin.
The bass job is different in metal from some other type of music like jazz .
The story of bass in metal is that it makes bone for other instruments.so we don't hear it well but in the mix it plays huge role (except Metallica ).
A lot of click sound you hear in metal is coming from bass .
It makes borders in music .
